By Suzanne Révy
“If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere” sang Frank Sinatra about New York City. The city entices people who want to fulfill big dreams and ambitions. The rhythm of the city that never sleeps pulses at a frenetic pace, yet there are morning lulls and a vast park that provides a respite to millions who find themselves confined in small apartments and offices. Three recently published books revel in the city’s mosaic of culture. Languor by Donavon Smallwood is a subtle black and white ode to Central Park, Amy Touchette builds a community through portraits made in a Brooklyn neighborhood in Personal Ties, and Janet Delaney wanders with the curious eye of a visitor in her book of vintage photographs, Red Eye to New York. All three books are tactile and gemlike in presentation, allowing readers to sit quietly and commune with the myriad ways that inhabitants, visitors and nature engage in the urban sphere of New York City.
Excerpt from Languor by Donavon Smallwood, published in 2021 by Trespasser, Austin, TX.
Excerpt from Languor by Donavon Smallwood, published in 2021 by Trespasser, Austin, TX.
Excerpt from Languor by Donavon Smallwood, published in 2021 by Trespasser, Austin, TX.
At the start of the pandemic in spring of 2020, Donavon Smallwood sought refuge in early morning walks in Central Park. He made landscapes and portraits through the fall, resulting in a black and white series of images that appear in a soft cover book with an open spine called Languor. Smallwood was motivated to explore and discover an area of Central Park that had been home to a small, early 19th century community called Seneca Park. The area had been formed into several blocks of houses allowing home ownership to a largely Black community. It lasted for just over thirty years before the land was taken by eminent domain to build the park. Smallwood employs a long mid-tonal range in the pictures which endow them with a heavenly luminosity, and he describes being inspired by Proverbs 25:2 where the glory of God is to hide a thing, and the glory of man is to find it. The spirits of those from the past seem to linger in Smallwood’s trees, streams and in the faces of today’s park goers.
Excerpt from Personal Ties by Amy Touchette published in 2021 by Schilt Publishing and Gallery, Amsterdam
Exceprt from Personal Ties by Amy Touchette published in 2021 by Schilt Publishing and Gallery, Amsterdam
Excerpt from Personal Ties by Amy Touchette published in 2021 by Schilt Publishing and Gallery, Amsterdam
In contrast, the second two books are hard-cover and both photographers use a square format and color film, yet each approach the subject differently. In Personal Ties, Amy Touchette engages in her adopted neighborhood of Bedford Stuyvesant directly with the people that live there. She would roam the streets in the afternoons when the light is soft, and asked permission to make pictures of the folks she would meet. She describes photographing strangers as akin to reading a novel with each encounter. And we are treated to two written stories deeper in the book, which give a flavor for this multigenerational enclave of Brooklyn and its trajectory over the past thirty years. After living in New York for over twenty years, she found “Bed-Stuy” offered a warm and open welcome when she moved there in 2015. Immersing herself in this historically Black community she has produced an empathetic portrait that celebrates family, friendships and the connections formed among neighbors.
Excerpt from Red Eye to New York by Janet Delaney published in 2021 by MACK, London.
Excerpt from Red Eye to New York by Janet Delaney published in 2021 by MACK, London.
Excperpt from Red Eye to New York by Janet Delaney published in 2021 by MACK, London.
Finally, Janet Delaney’s Red Eye to New York brings a spontaneous curiosity to the maze of streets, crowds and structures in pictures bathed in early morning summer light. Made during the 1970’s into the 1980’s, Delaney lived in San Francisco, but a friend offered her tickets to New York on overnight cargo flights through his employer, DHL. Arriving in the mornings in that bleary frame of mind she would make pictures then crash in the walk-up loft of a friend downtown. On these itinerant visits, she turned her attention to lovers, lonely commuters, diners, windows and plazas. The pictures are filled with the pathos of urban existence while maintaining a classically Californian sense of golden light and a laid back reverence for the wonder of it all.
Languor by Donovan Smallwood, 2021, Trespasser, Austin, TX
https://trespasser.co/shop/languor
Personal Ties by Amy Touchette, forward by Larry Fink, afterword by C. Joi Sanchez, 2021, Schilt Publishing and Gallery, Amsterdam, NL
https://www.schiltpublishing.com/shop/books/new-releases/personal-ties-bed-stuy-brooklyn/
Red Eye to New York by Janet Delaney, essay by Amanda Mattox, 2021 MACK, London, GB
https://www.mackbooks.us/collections/frontpage/products/red-eye-to-new-york-br-janet-delaney
(Featured Image) Books reviewed here from left to right, Personal Ties by Amy Touchette (Schilt) Languor by Donovan Smallwood (Trespasser) and Red Eye to New York by Janet Delaney (Mack)
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