This famous portrait of poet W.H. Auden was taken by Richard Avedon amid a snowstorm in Manhattan on the morning of 3 March 1960. No one has ever been able to identify the precise location. Can you solve this historical geolocation challenge? There are more clues in the thread. 
Stanford professor @audenfan is writing a poetic essay about the photo and would love to know where it was taken. “Location is revelation,” he says, and “poetry has always been strongly related to specific places.”
Mr. Auden lived at 77 Saints Marks Place in New York City, and @audenfan suspects the photo was taken somewhere in the Lower East Side or East Village. The width of the road suggests it may be an avenue rather than a cross street.
The @Avedon Foundation has been so kind as to share the drum scans which offer some visual clues, such as the kosher (כשר) shop sign on the left and three finials on or behind a building on the right with a snow-covered porch. You can the photos here: bit.ly/audengeolocati….
Given that the photo was taken over 60 years ago, it may be helpful to use historical photos of New York City. Below are two great resources to find such photos per block or junction in Manhattan.
First, there is @nycrecords' archive of 1.6 million images of facades in New York City between roughly 1930 and 1960: nycma.lunaimaging.com/luna/servlet. Here's how to effectively use the archive, per @audenfan's tip.
The city organized the environment by 3-digit block numbers. To find a block number of a location of interest you go to maps.nyc.gov/doitt/nycitymap and type in an address, or just click on a building. Mr. Auden's building is located on block number 450, for example.
Once you have the block number of interest, you go to nycma.lunaimaging.com/luna/servlet and, in the search bar there, type: “block=#”. You can filter the results by borough in the top left.
A similar resource that may be of use is @oldnycbot which maps historical photos from the New York Public Library per junction: oldnyc.org.
“The more I look at the Avedon image, the more magical it seems,” said @audenfan. “The snow seems to gather around the poet, almost as if he were bringing the weather with him as he approaches the viewer.” But where is it?
Let’s see if we can find the precise location by some @quiztime/@bellingcat-style online collaboration. Feel free to share what clues you find, where you've looked, and what hunches you have.
Woah, the precise location has been found by @EvanMCook, @heupchurch and @Aggie_jo! On that snowy morning in 1960, Mr. Auden was standing at the SW corner of 1st Ave and 9th street — literally around the corner from his house (!).
https://twitter.com/EvanMCook/status/1314412132260360193
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