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The Guardian
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Shot from the hip! A street level view of 1970s New York
In July 1973, Mark Cohen spent a month living in a dorm room at NYU while taking part in a film production workshop. His daily classes were short so he used his free time to walk around the city with his camera. Only a few of the images were printed at the time and the vast majority remained unseen, except as negatives, until now. Tall Socks by Mark Cohen is published by GOST Mark Cohen has been taking pictures since he was 14 and is best-known for his work made in his native city of Wilkes-Barre in Pennsylvania where he would just go out of his door and start to work. He didn't need to travel because there was an infinite set of possibilities and variations on the streets each day. The same working method applied to his short time in New York Mark Cohen: 'There is usually a certain 'triggering' point in my view of the scene. Something that catches my eye. Many of the frames are made quickly and the compositions are accidental. This picture of the child going along the cobblestone street with the board is intimate and sudden, very beautiful' 'The man with the spoked wheel cart is holding the bored, yawning dog. His leash is attached to a harness with metal rivets. Immediately behind the dog and in a strict rectangle of a still life is a wooden box of fruit. Under the dog's jaw, on the sidewalk, is a plastic bag. The rest of the picture is open space. A lot of formal visual activity is going on but it's swirling around the dog and fruit. In 1973 I skipped this negative, but then in 2024 scanned it and properly saw it for the first time' 'You can clearly see the threat the girl suspects in her eyes. Compositionally, her long bare legs and arm lead up to her face in the extreme corner. The extra thigh, knee and hand of her friend diffuse her vulnerability, because if she was alone it would be a different picture. I like the mended step and the column on the left for contributing to the degraded texture. And in the centre is a dark open doorway. It's all unplanned, an accident, driven by my glance at the legs emerging from the worn setting as I went by' New York in the 1970s was notorious for high crime rates, social disorder, an unsafe subway and a declining quality of life. Economic stagnation had hit the city hard and many of the middle-class residents had left for the suburbs This is often evidenced in Cohen's photographs in the graffiti, litter and ruin present on the streets. Yet his images also depict a New York that is full of life and on the move Although the book's sequencing follows no formal narrative, the pace of the images give the impression of walking around a city whose residents are in a perpetual state of transit with Cohen moving unobtrusively through There is an undercurrent of threat in some of the images –the glare of a stranger and menacing subway stations – but also humour and joy found in a child's tall socks, a lady with peacock feathers, an incongruous elephant or a girl carrying a plank of wood across a cobblestoned street There is change from block to block, from step to step, new details and impressions observed You can read more about this image in our Big Picture feature Cohen has a singular photographic style resulting from holding his camera at hip level to intuitively photograph, often up close to his subjects This lends his images an unusual perspective – they show the world viewed from the height of a child, focusing on objects or angles which are often overlooked By cropping figures and peering curiously into doorways and down streets, the familiar becomes both fresh and strange
The Guardian
02-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘Their relationship has ebbed and flowed': a father and son grow up
Photographer Sarah Mei Herman was 20 when her half-brother Jonathan was born in 2001. When he was a small child she began to photograph him regularly alongside their father, Julian. The images in her forthcoming book Julian & Jonathan span more than 20 years and document Jonathan's visible growth from child to adult against the steadier changes in Julian and Herman's own journey as an artist, daughter and half-sister. Julian & Jonathan by Sarah Mei Herman is published by GOST. An exhibition is at Concertgebouw Brugge, Belgium, 10 May to 31 August Sarah Mei Herman: 'This photo was taken during our first trip to my father's home country, South Africa, with the three of us. We were staying in a small apartment by the beach, and I captured this moment early in the morning, around 7am, just after we had all woken up. The morning sunlight was pouring in, and because it was so bright, they both kept their eyes closed. This remains one of my favourite early images – I can still remember this moment between the three of us so vividly' 'For me, this is a very important photograph in the series, as it was the moment I realised I wanted to keep photographing them. I took this photo outside a small holiday home where we were staying for the weekend. I love Julian and Jonathan's hands in this image – how Jonathan's hand is wrapped around my father's thumb, his other hand clenched into a fist while he bites the hood of his light blue bathrobe. Jonathan's stiff posture, next to Julian's somewhat resigned pose, continues to fascinate me' Having grown up as an only child fantasising about having a sibling, when Jonathan did arrive Herman was already an adult. Making portraits was one of the few ways she felt she could connect with Jonathan. The ritual of photographing her half-brother, often alongside their father, began when Jonathan was just four years old and allowed Herman ways to consider the potential meanings of family intimacy. Jonathan would usually agree to be photographed, sometimes even taking pride in the project. At other times his resistance is evident 'The old brown leather swivel chair in this photo belonged to my father. He had it for as long as I can remember. As a young girl, I spent a lot of time in this chair, either alone or with my father' 'To me, the chair is a metaphor for his body. A few years ago, he got rid of it because it was falling apart. I still miss seeing it in the living room when I visit him. This photograph of Jonathan sitting in the swivel chair in the snowy garden was the result of a small collaboration between us. I asked Jonathan where he would like to be photographed, and he told me he wanted to sit in the chair in the garden. We carried it outside together so I could take this picture' 'With each photographic session, I attempt to get closer to him, to establish connection, to understand his inner world; at times, the resistance I'm met with only fuels my intrigue to know more. The project is as much about me and my family as it is about their separate universe' 'This is one of the most intimate photographs I've taken of my father and half-brother together. The subtle gesture of my father's hand on Jonathan's leg represents his fatherly care. Hands often play a significant role in my photographs – either as a point of connection or when they are tucked away. In this image, Julian and Jonathan's hands are especially important: I love the way they're placed and connected' 'I took this portrait in my father's bedroom, standing outside on the small balcony with my camera on a tripod to create some distance. I'm always fascinated by the way bodies touch. Jonathan was 12 years old here and had just gone through a radical physical transformation. I love the dynamics between him and my father – my father, on the left, slightly slumped over, while Jonathan sits up straight, leaning against him, gently pressing his shoulder into his arm' Photograph: Sarah Mei Herman 'I'm interested in the triangulation between us; the changing proximity and distance we share, and the peculiar feeling of looking in on a world to which I don't fully belong. Over the years, the dynamic between them – and us – has ebbed and flowed. Sometimes they were close, and at other times they were further removed from one another' 'Jonathan was 15 years old here, and by then, his relationship with Julian had shifted and changed significantly. He was distancing himself from his father, and it became increasingly difficult to get close to him. It felt as though he was building a wall around himself. When I took this photograph, I wasn't consciously aware of the traces in the sand around Jonathan's feet. But when I saw the image later, they seemed to resemble a mental wall made visible' 'It's as if they are photographed in a separate universe that runs parallel to the many demands of 'ordinary' life. In this tranquil space, I'm able to capture a sense of stillness, silence and proximity in my images. I'm interested in what might arise between the sitter and I. I don't tend to see my works as reflections of reality, but rather as captured moments of intimacy. These moments were created through a collaborative process that depends heavily on the trust between the different parties involved' 'I took this photo of Jonathan just a few weeks before his 19th birthday. He had lost his mother to cancer a few months earlier and was going through an incredibly dark and difficult period. Despite everything, he agreed to be photographed that day. I remember him being intensely withdrawn, his skin paler than ever before. To me, the 'closedness' of this photograph strongly reflects his state of being' 'They have both dealt with the hardship of loss and its many painful consequences. My images of Jonathan throughout his youth, whether alone or with our father, chronicle these shifts and turns' Photograph: Sarah Mei Herman 'I took this photograph of my father during a recent trip to South Africa we took together. He was about to take a nap, but he's so used to me and my camera that it never seems to bother him. For this shot, I stood on the bed right next to him. I love the creases in his T-shirt, the sheets, and the pillow, and the way the sunlight gently covers his chest and part of his hands. My father is getting older, and his physical health is deteriorating, but in this photograph, he feels calm and strong to me'
The Guardian
13-02-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Civil rights and Cybertrucks: searching for the real Atlanta
The Makeshift City by Joshua Dudley Greer shows a contemporary Atlanta in a state of flux – both a unique city with a specific history and culture, and a generic American metropolis struggling to forge its identity. These photographs were taken between 2020-2024 during the pandemic, the rise of Black Lives Matter, struggles for abortion rights, increased income inequality and the Stop Cop City movement. The Makeshift City by Joshua Dudley Greer is available via GOST Although the structure of the city changed dramatically during the period in which these photographs were taken, the systems which governed it often remained immutable. 'I watched people go about their daily lives in spite of everything that might act against them,' says Greer. 'There were times of resilience, activism, selflessness and joy. But there were also moments of banality, privilege and ignorance, even disdain. There is so much about Atlanta that I don't understand, and probably never will' ''Atlanta is not a real place' has been a commonly used expression on social media over the past few years. I sometimes thought about it as an unofficial mantra while I was making this work. While I often had certain political or historical motivations behind many of the photographs, it reminded me to also stay open to the present moment and to embrace the strange, wonderful and unpredictable spirit of this place' 'In 2018, the Masjid Al-Momineen was constructing a new mosque and would hold prayer outside to accommodate the overflow of practising Muslims during Ramadan. I set up my 4x5 camera just before mid-afternoon prayer, and a summer thunderstorm unleashed a downpour over the entire parking lot. It felt like no one ran or even lifted his head, so I was able to make this one photograph before my camera gear and film were soaked. In many ways, it was the image and the experience that convinced me to pursue a project about Atlanta' 'During Covid there were few places where it felt safe to go out in public but cemeteries became a common visiting spot for me. Oakland Cemetery was often quite lively and filled with people and special events so I found myself wandering around and people watching. As a site of the Civil war, Atlanta's history has almost been entirely erased from the landscape. There aren't many preserved sites or memorial plaques to acknowledge these events, so cemeteries are one of the few places that can offer a direct connection from the past to the present' 'The red-clay earth of the American South is such a deeply embedded visual trope in the history of photography. I couldn't resist photographing it here churned up by bulldozers to make way for luxury apartments' 'Once a prosperous street, Auburn Avenue was known for its commercial, spiritual and cultural contributions to African American progress. Dr Martin Luther King Jr was born here and preached locally. The 1950s and 60s saw desegregation and the construction of interstates, radically altering the neighbourhood. Sections have now fallen into such neglect that television and film studios have staged scenes of poverty, violence and dystopia here. Pictured are the cast and crew filming a scene from Alex Garland's aptly titled 2024 film Civil War' 'In early 2024, the Tesla Cybertruck was so rare and in such demand that folks in Atlanta were paying more than twice the suggested retail price – in some cases as much as $250,000 – for it. That same year, Atlanta was ranked worst in the nation for income inequality' 'Racialised gentrification has been dramatically altering the identity of Atlanta over the past 30 years. In 1990, the city's population was two-thirds Black, but by 2020, that figure was less than a half. Dan Immergluck, a professor at Georgia State University, wrote a book called Red Hot City about the intersection of race and housing in Atlanta, and it prompted me to try to picture some of the changes that are threatening historic neighbourhoods throughout the city' 'Last year, the United States Supreme Court ruled that US cities can enforce bans on homeless people sleeping outdoors even as nationwide homelessness grew a dramatic 12% to its highest reported level. Michael was one of many unhoused people who were forcefully removed from their encampments and this hollow den off the Downtown Connector was emptied and welded shut. Now when you pass by, you'll see an official sign that reads 'No Camping'' 'This photograph was made in 2020 during lockdown, born out of sheer awe because I had never seen Midtown Atlanta without traffic before. I had no intentions of revisiting the scene, but seeing how many new buildings emerged in just a few years gave me an opportunity to return for the second visit (below) and show the transformation and investment of capital that's happening in that part of the city' 'The second view was actually the last photograph I made for the book. I knew I wanted to use the same exact frame but it needed something else. I photographed it maybe five or six times without any luck. My daughter had been asking me to photograph a pink car for years and when one finally showed up, I knew that was the picture'
