Let?s find the vanishing points in this image. Trace the horizontal edges of the buildings and find their point of intersection. This is the vanishing point. Repeat the process using the buildings on the left, and then the buildings on the right. Since all these lines are parallel, they should all meet in the same point, but they do not.
This painting certainly cannot be a photograph because the perspective is not correct.
Did anybody notice that the perspective wasn?t correct before I drew these lines?
Why did Estes separate the vanishing points in this way? In order to create a more interesting composition. To show the entire street scene he would have to increase the field of view. But wide-field-of-view photos look distorted. To avoid this undesirable effect he shifted the left and right sides of the street scene closer together, in the process producing inconsistent vanishing points.
An important lesson. To make realistic image look right, artists employ distortions and other artistic techniques.