Meatpacking District 1985-2013

Once again, Mr. Rose has salvaged yet another part of the great city that was...

Been reminiscing about ye olde NY, my old NY* here lately, which put me to mind of Metamorphosis- Meatpacking District 1985-2013 by Brian Rose. This once dubious section of NYC was at various odd hours of day turned to night bustling with meat products and sex workers- the isolated afternoon hours spent idling in the odor of carcasses since quartered, packed and delivered.

Of course, you're more likely to smell the various aromas of pricey, pungent perfumes these days in what has become a fashion mecca within the fashion mecca. Another unique section of NY forever lost to time, gentrified to near ossification.

*Watch it and weep...

The Best Of Times, The...

Been looking back, and it's been quite the year! And as I prepare a few scans for my very first rejection of the brand new year (hope springs eternal), I took some time to look over my favorite books of 2013. Fortunately, there are so many goddamn photography books being made now, self published and otherwise- many of them ridiculously good! But unless you're someway, somehow one of the blessed few, most are well out of our physical/geographical reach (unless ya got the bucks)- otherwise, one must settle for occasional glimpses on these here internets. 

Have you seen... well, uh, I, yeah, saw bits and pieces of lo res reproductions online, and read the reviews. It's uh... really, really good, so I am led to believe...

I was however, lucky to obtain the following:

1. Orchard Beach by Wayne Lawrence- just got it for Christmas, and it's even better than I expected, why this guy's name isn't an automatic mention when photographic portraitists of this century are discussed is... well, don't get me started.
2. She Dances on Jackson by Vanessa Winship- America The Great, the grand decline in all its B&W melancholy.
3. The Landscape Of Murder by Antonio Olmos- on order, and can't wait...
4. Time And Space On The Lower East Side by Brian Rose- truth be told, haven't been able to shell out the buckaroos for this one, quite as of yet...

Time And Space On The Lower East Side- The Dillon Gallery

Can't say how happy I am that things turned out as well as they have for Brian Rose and his decades encompassing project Time And Space On The Lower East Side. Thank god someone went to the trouble of documenting this historical and life changing area of one of the greatest, most important cities the world has ever seen. A city made great not by its blood sucking Trumps and Wall St. financiers, but by the "little people" who continued to trudge through its life long inequities- people like my folks who came to its shores from a small island in the Caribbean to eke out an existence in a $30 cold water flat back in the fifties. And their offspring who survived the seventies as the infrastructure crumbled, the Bronx burned and Loisaida went through the ravages of yet another heroin epidemic, followed by the scourge of crack, before finally being thrown into the onslaught of wholesale depravity known as gentrification. Many of The Lower East Side's remaining poor scrambled onward to Brooklyn, only to be chased out yet again in the nineties.

NYC is hardly the place that stops to shed a tear, the inexorable shark that must keep swimming, must keep moving, whether for its own good, or not. Rose has managed to document one of the most representational sections of that city's history (culturally, geographically, ethnically) that now exists only in the long term memories of its long time residents, and then takes the extra step to show how it has transformed into the city that we see before us today.

Time And Space On The Lower East Side- Brian Rose

Photos: Brian Rose© -All Rights Reserved

When I lived in NYC, I often knew that I wasn't getting some shots I'd like simply because they required a view camera. Lee Friedlander once said something to the effect that in NYC you basically just throw out all your well worn composition tools and tricks because NY can be so two dimensional... there's no horizon line. You either got a 35mm and became a classic street photographer, or got a view camera and... tried something else. That's an oversimplification, of course- but a lotta truth nonetheless. One's more conducive to the city's everyday pulse, the other to its long term, historical and environmental context.

Back in the day, Ellis Island was the arrival point for incoming turn of the century immigrants, and The Lower East Side was the gateway to the rest of New York. It was the concentrated hub of everything good and bad that would shape and define the future of a city, a country- a century and its people.

Loisaida (the Spanglish pronunciation of Lower East Side) was in a state of flux and change in the early eighties. Much of the traditional immigrant population had long departed uptown, the boroughs- the burbs. And although Italian, Jewish and Polish sections could still be found, it was in large part repopulated by my fellow Nuyoricans- particularly to the East of Tompkins Square Park (aka- Alphabet City) and south of Houston St. At the start of that decade, one could still see three bedroom apartments being advertised for three hundred bucks well within those areas- and if you moved in in the morning, you stood to be removed of all your worldly possessions by dusk. But that Loisaida was to be short lived as Operation Pressure Point and the greed induced, over the roof rents of neighboring SOHO had prospective artists (the "shock troops of gentrification" as one writer called them) as well as musicians migrating over like some great primordial tsunami. In short order, the New Wave music scene peaked and was in turn wiped out as rapidly as it appeared by the powerhouse called Rap, and the artificiality known as Madonna.

Brian Rose started photographing New York round the same time I moved into Manhattan, and Time And Space On The Lower East Side (talk & presentation 4/02) documents a transitioning Lower East Side as the latest flight and influx of people and money transformed the very landscape around them. Before the decade was up, you would see the first inquiries for available rooms for $500. By the late '80s, it seemed as if every other bodega and every empty store front in Loisaida had been converted into art galleries by silver spooned, twenty year old, big time wannabe gallerists! They sprang up seemingly overnight like mushrooms after a forest rain- a year and a half later, over 90% of them closed shop. Gentrification had arrived full force, the push into Brooklyn was but a river and a few hours away. Of course, no one ever bothers to ask where all the low income inhabitants (many with families) were forced to flee...

Time And Space On The Lower East Side forever captures a good part of what will always be my New York- a bit broken, somewhat foreboding, and always promising more (much more) than it can ever possibly deliver.

By the end of the nineties, many of the area's neighborhoods had lost much of their historic flavor as ancient storefronts were modernized into garish fashion boutiques and trendy restaurants. Mr. Rose and his view camera not only preserved much of the architecture, but also helped portray the feel of the street itself and how the personality of those neighborhoods were affected and forever changed. And make no doubt, within this modern day historical document, there is many a finely reproduced* photographic image that photography fans everywhere will well appreciate.

* I do not own this book (yet), but if Mr. Rose assures me the reproductions are even better than those of The Lost Border- that's enough by me...

Alex Harsley and 4th St. Photo

Photo: Brian Rose

In 1973, Alex Harsley was the first Black man to open a photo gallery in New York City- The 4th St. Photo Gallery. He was the only African American photo gallerist then- a unique distinction one would think he would have well lost by now in a city so culturally diverse and inundated with galleries of every type and reason. Then again, how many people of any color have run a gallery in Manhattan that long? No, we're not talking some multi-thousand sq. ft. gallery in Soho, Chelsea or the Upper East Side. His is a modest storefront operation where photographers of every style and demographic have gone to meet other photographers since well before the internet and chew the fat with whoever happened to be there- be it the enthusiastic, aspiring unknown having his first show, or the the old curmudgeon from around the corner named Robert Frank.

One of the first things you realize about Alex Harsley is just how unimposing he is. He sets you at ease, does not inflict his ego upon yours- rare in a city where everyone makes it a point to tell you everything that they think they are within the proverbial New York minute. And despite the fact that he wasn't exactly welcomed with open arms upon first arriving on 4th St.- after nearly forty years, "the lights still turn on." Or as he puts it, "If they had left me alone, I probably wouldn't have lasted so long."

Alex is not a bitter man, doesn't dwell on the negative, whether dealing with racism or the other multitude of obstacles life throws your way. He looks at the big picture and how things fit in context, in history, in current and future society. And that is, no doubt, at least in part how he has been able to adapt, overcome and survive since he founded Minority Photographers, Inc. in 1971 to address the obvious lack of opportunities for minority photographers. After his own first show, Alex was taken to task by none other than A. D. Coleman in a scathing review. He then made it a point to confront Mr. Coleman in person, not so much to even the score, but to see where the man (the critic) was coming from- yeah, he turned it into a learning moment. The two would remain cordial, long enough to see Mr. Coleman himself get ostracized for giving one too many critical reviews when it came to one particularly well connected photographer.

In a city that almost commands you to reach for the top whatever the cost, Alex never sought out the limelight; he kept his bearings, never lost his base. It's the same steady, quiet kind of confidence and perseverance that allowed him to ride a bike in NYC well past his youth and well before the advent of "bike lanes." Something I could never summon the courage to do. 

After you've gone to all the big blockbuster shows in NY and played street photographer extraordinaire on the city corners of your choosing, make sure to amble down Loisaida way between Bowery and Second Ave. and discover one of photography's most under celebrated resources hidden in plain sight. As long as the lights are on, a wealth of info, experience and hospitality awaits you.

PS- Before I moved, Alex advised me against a very common (and surprisingly unhealthy) darkroom practice- I rolled my eyes with a face that screamed... what, really, you sure about that!? And he shot my youngblood self back a look that said- you wanna be a fool, stay a fool! That's another reason he's survived so long, so well- nice as he is, he doesn't readily suffer fools.

Help Save The Lower East Side...

Three decades in the making, The Lower East Side by Brian Rose is a piece of New York history the city itself should be helping to produce and publicize. Alas, New York is a cold hearted mistress, always the proud lover when praised and promoted, she acknowledges her debts only grudgingly, if ever.

The Lost Border, Brian's brilliant photographic tribute to the Berlin Wall/Iron Curtain, will forever stand tall in ways the actual barrier could never hope to achieve. Rather than divide, The Lower East Side forced people together in an extreme experiment of its own well before Riis, Hines and Weegee- they who so well explored and captured their own eras. Rose helps fill in that historical gap and bring us to the present with the closing days of a "Loisaida" that still remained a formidable player in the mix. His Kickstarter campaign, if successful, will serve to document part of a city, part of a century that needs to be remembered, treasured and hopefully, one day, learned from.

And The Worst Title Goes To...

Surprisingly, there didn't seem to be too much hoopla over the Blurb Photography Book Now competition this year. Was I absent, did they tone down the advertising, or is the thrill just gone? Anyway, going over the 1,947 entries is something I wouldn't wish on anyone. Fortunately, my review methods are less than fair or objective, and more like entirely subjective and arbitrary, which tends to speed up the process somewhat- if the cover don't grab me... next!

Although the judges came up with a couple of genuine winners, there seemed to be very slim pickings indeed. In fact, things got so genuinely boring as I failed to focus on even one entry on successive pages of twenty books, that I started to concentrate on nominees for worst title- something I should have done since the beginning with nom de guerres like: 40 Bird Shots, Hey Kids Don't Smoke Cigs, Etchings In Shades Of Grey, and the ever faultless classic, The Eye Of The Beholder!

So... what was worth gawking at this year? Most of these are already known, like Tom Wiks' domestic dysphoria, his suburban house landscapes that always make me smile. If I could afford his damn book, I'd be tempted to cut the pages out and hang them on the walls just to make me happy. Then there's Miska Henner's No Man's Land, the masterfully innovative Google landscape hookers that has already garnered much due attention. My sentimental fave, of course, is WTC by Brian Rose, which features photos of The World Trade Center throughout the years and boroughs.

Photo: Valerio Spada

As for the official winners, I have no problem with Valerio Spada's brilliant combination of original photographs and police documentation called Gomorrah Girl that won Grand Prize. And Travel Winner, Sunshine and Noir by Thomas Michael Alleman is perhaps my all time favorite Holga essay.

Perhaps we need less photo and Photoshop workshops, and more title and artist statement writing classes, and contests... Did I mention the unforgettable- A Way Of Seeing Is Also A Way Of Not Seeing. I think The Riddler shot that one.

Are You A "Street Photographer?"

Photo: Stan Banos

Is street photography making a comeback? Don't rightly know. At least ninety per cent of what I shoot is taken on the street, although that doesn't particularly qualify me as an official "street photographer." That term's specifically reserved for the work of those who shoot people in quick, often quirky, off kilter compositions with ironic juxtapositions that incorporate some visual sense of irony, humor or serendipity. Or something like that...

I love "traditional" street photography as much as the next guy, I just don't do the shoot from the hip people thing, that often, that well. Mine usually come off as 2nd rate imitations- as do most other peoples. Better off to simply try and find that little niche you best serve on whatever corner of life it may be.

I'm tempted to call certain kinds of street photography urban landscapes, but that conjures up city skylines with pretty sunsets, or urban still lifes (lives?)- all equally absurd misnomers... The next two guys also shoot primarily in the street, their work every bit wonderful to say the very least- and yet, neither would be considered street photographers in the traditional sense.

Photo: Brian Rose

Brian Rose traced something once called the Berlin Wall all over the streets of East and West Berlin and beyond in one of my favorite books called The Lost Border. He also shoots the streets where he lives in New York. The wonderful photo above is a simple miracle of beauty and magic. Simple as a snapshot, miraculous because I know just how hard and rare it is to catch something so innocent and wondrous on the streets of NYC.

Photo: Alan George

Alan George covers the grit and beauty of the streets of San Francisco. This guy gets around, although you won't see many, if any, people in his work. I think he's one of the more talented and underrated street photographers working the streets of any town today.

Orchard St., 1980

 Photo: Brian Rose

This wonderful image by Brian Rose was taken in 1980, and I admittedly am predisposed to admiring it for reasons both aesthetic and personal. Subjectively, the time marks when I arrived in NYC proper (Manhattan) from the outlying boroughs, to make my own claim (Ha!) in the big city at the height of the then Punk/New Wave music scene- heady times. A mere prepubescent for most of the swinging '60s (13 in '69), I was ready to dive head first in what I knew would be the last aftershock of that fabled era that helped propel the century into modernity (by '84 it would be history, having already corrupted into the age of Madonna). Of course, cell phones were blessedly non existent, SOHO was still the gallery mecca, CBGB and The Mudd Club were going strong, even crack was yet to be invented, and in certain areas of Loisaida, people lined up in perfect single file in the middle of the street as minders with baseball bats warily maintained a calm and civil ambiance as everyone took in the afternoon cueing to put their money through the slot of a reinforced door in an abandoned building and await their magical bag of dope to appear. 

Oh, and I had my first apartment- actually, a one room flat adjacent to an Off Off Broadway Theatre with a toilet I shared with the customers. I opened, closed and maintained it in exchange for free rent. A couple of door fronts away was The 4th St. Photo Gallery of Alex Harsley who I believe is still there- the only black photo "gallerist" in NYC then, and I do suspect... now. The more things change...

 

The amazing thing about this photograph, shit, there are a lot of amazing things about this photograph! First, it resonates a good fifty, sixty, seventy years and more back in time (see below), replicating an almost identical scene that could have been witnessed there complete with similar crowds, commotion, outdoor vendors and passers-by of all ages, races and denominations. The original New World melting pot alive and well almost a century later, amidst the original architecture and backdrop of tenements and storefronts- magnificent! And after you take in the picture as a whole, you begin to notice the colors, the details, the individual groupings of people; some shopping or running errands, others casually strolling, a grandmother doting on her grand kids, while the sons of a recent immigrant ponder the whole massive, whirling mayhem- as it has always been.

Alas, this scene has considerably changed this past decade, the bargain storefronts that served a century of new arrivals have succumbed to designer boutiques and trendy restaurants- not far from this intersection an entire corner has been transformed into mock french village storefronts (what the?). The crowds are more sedate, more monied, more homogenized.

That was my NY, the one without air conditioned subway cars in the tropical heat of July, the one with Jimmy Breslin writing about its everyday working people in The NY Daily News, the one where the Pan Am building was still named... the Pan Am building, the NY that's being consigned to yet another page of history with every passing day- photos like the above bring it (and us) back to life. Damn, I want a chocolate egg cream...

"Lower East Side" (1900), collection of Lisa Ades, Jewish Museum

Brian Rose- WTC

If you're searching for something to look at this holiday weekend, you may wanna check out Brian Rose's WTC book. Although it definitely seems like ten years since 9/11- mostly thanks to the bludgeoning neanderthalism of life under the Bush regime, for someone away from his hometown, it still seems surreal that something so imposing a presence, so prevalent to the landscape is truly, permanently gone. That couldn't have been made clearer than when I returned to NY that first day they allowed flights back- as I headed downtown I suddenly felt strangely unbalanced, lightheaded, as if I couldn't walk a straight line. Turning my gaze upward, I then realized there was a hole in the sky, the looming presence of the World Trade Center was not dominating the patch of sky on my right where it should have been, where it seemed it had always been- and I was therefore actually, physically unbalanced without the "anchoring" effect it had provided upon that portion of the landscape! Clearly, I couldn't have been the only one who had undergone that spatial anomaly. The World Trade Center had ascended gradually into our consciousness, only to vanish in a torrent of trauma.

These photographs serve a fitting tribute.

That Which Defines You

 Photo: Brian Rose

This is one of my favorite all time photographs of New York. No doubt because there's a lot of personal nostalgia attached to it: a time when NYC was not part of the Disney hub, the pre-yuppified, pre-gentrified NY, when subway cars were minus life saving air conditioning, and you could walk certain downtown areas for blocks on a weekend, and count the number of humans you saw on one hand. 

Nostalgia be damned, and you still got one formidable photograph here. The contrasting hues of warm and cool tones, sleek and traditional, the constant give/take that characterize this city so always on the make. Of course, New Yorkers no longer "recall" how so many of us once derided those very background towers for being the plain, ungainly intrusions that so unbalanced our skyline. Once denied them, we instantly realized just how much they had become an inseparable part of us. They helped define us just as any other symbol, artifact or ritual that was uniquely New York. As instantly recognizable as our own accent.

2010 Photography Book Now!

Well, despite the fact that every imaginable poll has predicted my book the uncontested Grand Prize Winner of Blurb's Photography Book Now 2010 competition, I thought it would be nice to glance over a few choice picks of what others somehow thought would present "competition."

In all seriousness, there's a very good chance I missed some real winners amongst this year's competitors since I selected the following only upon entering a self induced hypnotic state allowing me to tear through the 2,000+ listing in one sitting- hardly the fair means to an end. And I hope that's the case, cause in my much admitted haste, I really didn't see all that many that impressed the hell outta me- so please, please, please feel free to mention your faves. But if anything has been made abundantly clear- we definitely do need a workshop or two on naming book titles (eg- Glimpses Of Shadows And The Echoes Of Light- made up, but look for yourself, 'nuff said).

Anyway, books that kicked butt, incl:

The Donovans  by Gina Brocker- Absolutely gorgeous color images of Irish Travellers, full of frenetic energy and reminiscent of a young Nick Waplington's Living Room, except with more poise and grace. One genuine visual tour de force!

The Woods by Emily Shur-  More a collection of single images than anything to do with "the woods,"  and no problem there- I'll take a strong collection of individual photographs over an essay with a few winners and a supporting cast of mediocrity any damn day.

Time and Space On The Lower East Side by Brian Rose- An interesting look back with some remarkable images of the sights, smells and sounds of New York's Lower East Side in the early eighties highlighted against the backdrop of  today's more genteel incarnation.

Covered by Barry Lewis- Awright! Who freakin' let this guy in? Here's a guy who kicks my ass in my own friggin' "demographic." Although there are a few images added solely for content, most of these photographs stand up quite nicely as striking compositions. Cars under wraps never looked so damn good, nor funny...

And speaking of Blurb- wouldn't it make sense that if you or I can get certain bookstores to sell our Blurb books on consignment, we could then merit a more substantial "Bookstore Discount" from Blurb to offset the store mark up? Few people will choose to pay prohibitively more for a book by an unknown artist, rather than get a known artist's book that is also cheaper- but if they were competitively priced... Wouldn't that provide Blurb with added exposure and an avenue into perhaps another stage of their business where they could somehow compete, or align themselves with the "legit" publishing world? Isn't that the most obvious and logical component missing in this whole self publishing equation? Soon many a book store could have a small, separate Blurb section. Just sayin'...

Time And Space On The Lower East Side

Brian Rose has released his latest project, Time And Space On The Lower East Side, as a very affordably priced Blurb book (particularly when you see all the great images within). Sometimes you really need a view camera to get that particular feel of a street landscape that  smaller formats just cannot deliver, particularly in a city infamous for its lack of horizon lines- and Mr. Rose certainly knows how to handle one (as further evidenced in The Lost Border, one of my favorite photography books of all time).

The book depicts NYC's Lower East Side in the early eighties (the city I once knew like a used tattoo- ironically, we lived on the very same block unbeknownst to each other)  juxtaposed against more recent work depicting its current day veneer. 

20 years Yesterday...

Checkpoint Charlie 8/90

Twenty years ago I still held to the naive belief that the "monumental" creations of my lifetime were just that- monuments meant to endure... Communist China, The Berlin Wall, The World Trade Center- never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd outlive any of them. And that said, can only hope to see the destruction of the Israeli Wall ASAP...

And if you haven't seen The Last Border by Brian Rose, wait no further. In it are the memories, ironies and beauty that is the tragedy called mankind...

Brian Rose- Berlin In From The Cold

The Lost Border by Brian Rose is one of my favorite photo books of all time. He has a new book out via Blurb called Berlin In From The Cold. The bad news is that it costs $200- the very good news is that you can view all 200 photos right online!

FWIW: My Top 30 Photo Books

What isn't a surprise here is how many truly great books are left out. What was the most admittedly subjective criteria used? Well, the most obvious- I had to own said book, and it had to inspire and be accessible on a multitude of levels, actively serving to place you in the world it seeks to portray or recreate, thus causing one to return again, and again, and again... Frequently, the love that went into the making of the photographs also extended into the making of the book itself, so that content and presentation complement each other to create one uniquely endearing work of art.

So... in no particular order:

1) In The American West -- Richard Avedon; one of portraiture's giants at his peak.

2) Ambiguous Ambassador- Tseng Kwong Chi; from humorous to majestic, all great photographs that happen to be self portraits.

3) Uncommon Places- Stephen Shore; the common made uncommon in color.

4) Madness- Claudio Edinger; beautiful images straight from hell.

5) Glory- Robert D'allessandro; the epitome of early seventies, wide angle, Tri-X documentary.

6) The Killing Fields; "art" by genocide...

7) The Inner City- Joseph Mills; street photography in dream time.

8) American Prospects- Joel Sternfeld; Americana redefined.

9) The Silence -- Gilles Peress; genocide and poetry in Africa.

10) Farewell To Bosnia-- Gilles Peress; genocide and poetry in Europe.

11) The Lost Border- Brian Rose; lyrical ghost imagery of bygone era.

12) Coney Island- Bruce Gilden; mid seventies NY at its grainy, idiosyncratic best.

13) Seydou Keita- Scalo (publ); the king of "outsider" portraiture, whether in his village in Africa or on opening night at the Gagosian in NYC on 10/23/97.

14) Cocaine True, Cocaine Blue- Eugene Richards; beauty in the depths of the human condition.

15) Inferno - James Nachtwey; high intensity, world wide drama crammed into 1 x 1 1/2.

16) Rich & Poor- Jim Goldberg; an intimate look into rich v poor. Guess who comes out looking worse...

17) Diane Arbus- Aperture (publ); the queen of portraiture.

18) William Eggleston's Guide- The Revolutionary Handbook.

19) The Last Resort- Martin Parr; stories within stories, live and in color.

20) Troubled Land- Paul Graham; tension and forboding in the land of beauty.

21) A Green And Pleasant Land- John Davies; landscapes past, present and forever.

22) Central Park -- Bruce Davidson; wonder and discovery in the manmade microcosm.

23) Sticks And Stones- Lee Friedlander: the swan song of swan songs.

24) Along the Ohio- Andrew Borowiec; middle America made familiar and magical.

25) The Black Triangle- Joseph Koudelka; a land laid waste in all its epic grandeur.

26) The Oxford Project- Peter Feldstein; the most simple of projects, the most brilliant of presentations.

27) Found in Brooklyn- Thomas Roma; neighborhood wonderland.

28) The Innocents- Taryn Simon; American tragedy as real as it gets.

29) At Dusk and By The Ground- by Boris Mihailov; two hard cover volumes of the most depressing panoramics imaginable sold in one package, haphazardly printed and toned into... true works of art.

30) The Americans -- Robert Frank; The New Testament.