The whisperers

14Dec11

I lived in Berlin for a year just before the wall came down, the only time I lived in Germany as an adult. It was a strange time, for many reasons.  But what stood out, unforgettably, were people’s faces. They looked distorted, like George Grosz drawings, as if they had put on a mask, but [...]

Filed under: Cemeteries, History, photography, Russia, Youth   |  Closed
Tags: 1989, Berlin, Brighton Beach, cemetery, faces, gravestones, Jewish, mortality, New York City, Orlando Figes, portrait photography, Russia, suffering, The Whisperers, Washington Cemetery (Brooklyn)

Just to touch each other

11Dec11

I studied photography. I take pictures. I have an MFA graduation certificate that says so. I never say “I am a photographer”. Photography is a set of tools and techniques that are used by many different people for many different reasons – sell a sweater on Ebay, document their kids’ activities, play dress-up, or whatever [...]

Filed under: Photographers, photography   |  Closed
Tags: art, awkwardness, looking at each other, personals, photography, portrait photography, rituals, strangers, why take pictures

The luxury of poverty

01Nov11

I was for a good part of my life crushingly poor, at least by the measurement of government measures, such as poverty lines. There were times when I made less than $3 an hour. Where what I owned on this earth could fit into just a few small boxes. When I lived in a bedsit [...]

Filed under: 1980s, Peter Hujar, Photographers, photography, Youth   |  Closed
Tags: bedsit, luxury, Peter Hujar, photography, portrait photography, poverty, youth