5 Frames of New York City, 1987

Photography can be a time machine. 38 years ago I travelled the first time to New York, classic style with a Pan Am jumbo. With me came two F3s, a 24/2.8 and a 105/2.5, plus 10 rolls of T-Max 400. The immigration officers at JFK looked up your name in huge red books, luckily Kurt Waldheim was listed, no Wulff. Amazingly the city felt like the set of all the movies shot there: Klute, Dog Day Afternoon, or Woody Allens wonderful black and white Manhattan. Years later I had the pleasure to meet Steve Schapiro, who shot the stills for »Taxi Driver« and »The Godfather«, or the cover of David Bowies »Station to Station« and »Low«. Steve was one of the warmest and caring people I ever met, he gave me a lot in very short time. Look up his body of work, it is incredible. We had a shootout with our Nikons, Godfatherstyle.

Back in 1987, the first thing I did after falling out of the yellow cab was walking down Broadway from Union Square, to get a real slice of Pizza. The next day, I started roaming the street to shoot. A camera over each shoulder I enjoyed the combination of the two lenses. With the 24 you had to get close, with the 105 it was a bit more relaxed. So imagine me, walking down Manhattan snapping away. I tried not to hide what I was doing, it was all a great adventure. The New Yorkers were pretty oblivious, listening to their Walkmen, or reading Paperbacks in the subway. Female office workers walked around town in sneakers, with their pumps in plastic bags.

I smiled a lot. Back then you were a curiosity, not a jerk posting stuff on instagram. And then, it was New York.

This couple walked in their own world, she injured, him tenderly caring for her, navigating through the city. They never saw the strange kid jumping at them with a Japanese camera in his face.

Central Park – This dreamy kid, fishing carp with sausages at the Conservatory Water pond, saw me coming. But it was okay.

These two gentlemen, sitting in front of Mare Chiaro at 176 1/2 Mulberry Street, saw me too. For a change I used the 105. It was 12 years before ‘The Sopranos’ went on the air in 1999, but dosen’t he look a bit like Uncle Junior?

One hot afternoon, a summer storm caught New Yorkers on their way home. Heavy rain made this corner only negotiable with a leap of faith, which most of them took. This sequence is shot with the 105. While I ignored it back in the 80s I grew quite fond of it over time. Back then I only printed my favorites, but some surprises are still hidden after all the time. Okay, I cheated. It is 8 Frames)

Walking the backstreets of Chinatown around sunset I met these three ladies. Chatting at the back entrance of a restaurant, fresh prepared Peking Ducks gleaming in the kitchens open window, they were the perfect image. I had to have it. Kneeling down in front of them, F3 with 24 at my eye, finger on the shutter… There was a loud CRACK… with the mirror slap her stick hit the camera. The hurlyburly’s was done and the image won, smiling I walked away towards the the set of sun.

This journey defined who I became as a photographer to this day. Back home I developed the T-MAX in my trusty Jobo UniTank, searching for half-remembered favorites on the wet and dripping films. I went back to printing these images on a box of Ilfobrom Galerie FB, amazed by the quality of the film. These pictures are photographed prints, not scanned negatives. They are a special gift, allowing me to look back in time, to the young man I was. To the excitement of capturing exactly the image you want, and the utter happiness to print it in the darkroom.
Thank you for your time!

(Hi Dave, see you in Maine!)
/thorsten

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