13 Photography Shows in a Day: A Review

Note: I just released a new weekend Downtown NYC photography workshop, Oct 19th + 20th, 2024. One of two group workshops that I put on each year. Would love to see you!

Also, we will be back here in Sept, I’ll give you a short summer break from me.

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9am to 6pm, 23,000 steps, 7 trains.

Part of the impetus for doing this walk was creating a way I can regularly catch up with what’s going on around the city and share it, maybe every four months or so. I’m also going to keep a constant NY gallery and shows page dedicated to what’s occuring around the city with photographs and thoughts, hopefully along with quarterly binges like this.

Technical notes: I counted the bookstores Printed Matter and Dashwood as ‘shows’, but Dashwood has a nearby photography gallery as well. Also, the Met was closed since it was a Wednesday but I made it to the steps and then visited two days later, so I’m counting it as if I did it the same day. I spent longer than planned at the Museum of the City of New York since it’s incredible. So the timing for a full-day hike should still work out. I kept the day to two taxis on the Upper East where they shaved lots of travel time with little traffic, but the rest of the day was walking and subways. Also, I had been to the ICP show and had to rush home, so that would have been the 14th show, but I returned a couple days later to photograph it. If you’re also a maniac, it would have been doable to start at 10am and finish by the 7pm closing of the ICP without much rushing.

Difficulty: Maniac. Felt like an extreme all-day hike, especially with the subway stairs and 95-degree heat. In the future, when I break this up into more manageable chunks, I’ll be able to document my favorite photographs better.

Hat tip: thank you to Miwa at Dashwood Books / Session Press for inspiring me into this crazy idea. Make sure to read about and stop by Dashwood when you’re downtown.

Museum of the City of New York

• Location: 1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street
• Exhibit: “This Is New York: 100 Years of the City in Art and Pop Culture”
• Ends: July 21st
  • Details: A century of New York’s portrayal in art and popular culture, featuring works from artists, filmmakers, musicians, and writers inspired by the city.
  • Personal Notes: While the exhibit itself was wonderful, the entire museum is basically an exhibit of photography, objects, and art used to tell the story of New York. As a guide, I learned many new insights and facts about the city and it placed big historical shifts and timeframes into perspective. An absolute top hidden gem museums in the city, filled with treasures.

The Met

• Location: 1000 Fifth Avenue (at 82nd Street)
• Exhibit: “The Real Thing: Unpackaging Product Photography,” “The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism,” and “Don’t Forget to Call Your Mother”
• End Date: August 4, 2024
  • Details: The art and history of product photography, a Harlem Renaissance art exhibit with a lot of great photography, and an exhibit about snapshots and objects that create feelings of “sentimentality and nostalgia.”
  • Personal Notes: Go up the stairs, take a left, and walk for a bit. That’s usually where the photography is located. I’m often hard on the MET, which boasts an archive of 75,000 photographs, but it’s important to remember that it’s not the ICP nor the MoMA, with less contemporary photography. The product photography exhibit was much more interesting than I expected and especially fascinating from a design, cultural, and printing perspective. The “Mother” show seemed similar in idea to many of the smaller galleries, with curators thinking of ways to explore vast archives in ways that sort of make sense but not fully. Though the variety of photography itself was varied and interesting. Finally, both smaller photography exhibits were next to the Harlem Renaissance exhibit, which is really why you should visit right now. It included lots of photography, mostly by James Van Der Zee.

Asia Society

• Location: 725 Park Avenue (between 70th + 71st)
• Exhibit: “Coal + Ice”
• Ends: August 11th 
  • Details: A powerful visual experience that highlights the impact of climate change through photography and video installations, focusing on the interlinked stories of coal and ice.
  • Personal Notes: What a surprise. This show immerses you in gorgeous wall-scale photography and video, aiming to put you in the scenes and bring you closer to the scale of climate change. The curators state that they are not trying to scare but to educate; it’s clear they are cognisant of turning people off or being too pessimistic. Though I probably could have handled and wanted more pessimism. They did an exceptional job translating the feeling of scale when dealing with this issue. An immersive room showing a New York red with forest fire smog (accompanied by the smell of burning embers) is attached to a futuristic green New York. Showing multiple outcomes was a particularly powerful experience.

Howard Greenberg Gallery

• Location: 41 East 57th Street, Suite 1406
• Exhibit: “Printer Savant: Lumiere Press And The Art of The Photo Book”
• Ends: Aug 16th 
  • Details: This exhibition highlights books by the famed fine art publisher Lumiere Press. Iconic prints from photographers featured in their books line the walls.
  • Personal Notes: The beauty of the Howard Greenberg and Edwynn Houk galleries is that they are around the corner from each other and in a convenient location to pop in whenever you have the time. Because they are in the business of selling prints to collectors, they always have iconic prints on the wall. However they are small galleries, so your time there will be short. But I imagine the experience of bringing $3,000 to $5,000 to spend on a print and being taken through their archives must be legendary.

Edwynn Houk Gallery

• Location: 745 Fifth Avenue (57th + 58th)
• Exhibit: “In The Studio”
• Ends: August 3rd 
  • Details: A small exhibition organized around the idea of the studio and creative space.
  • Personal Notes: See Howard Greenberg Gallery notes.

MoMA (Museum of Modern Art)

• Location: 11 West 53rd Street (5th + 6th)
• Exhibit: “LaToya Ruby Frazier: Monuments of Solidarity”
• Ends: September 7th 
  • Details: In this monumental exhibition, Frazier organizes decades of work into what she calls ‘Monuments for Workers’ Thoughts,’ telling the story of the human rights disasters that resulted from capitalist industrialization, and highlighting the spirit of the communities, families, and individuals who were profoundly affected.
  • Personal Notes: This is a photography show of the year in New York. A must-see; there is so much to see and read that it is impossible to go through it all in one visit, making a second viewing very enjoyable as you explore in detail the issues that Frazier has dedicated her life to revealing and promoting. Frazier’s career has it all, and she is only in her early 40s, yet at the same time this show reveals a sad and nostalgic revelation, that no matter what you do, it is often impossible to top the impact and brilliance of a youthful body of work focusing on your life. The early rooms punch like Tyson; the relenting dedication shown through the rest of the exhibit sustains the early power. And a pair of Levi’s Jeans gets destroyed.

New York Historical Society

• Location: 170 Central Park West (77th Street)
• Exhibit: “Lost New York”
• Ends: September 29th  
  • Details: This exhibition explores the history of New York City through artifacts, photographs, and art focusing on pastimes, culture, and buildings that have succumbed to time.
  • Personal Notes: A hidden gem of the same caliber as The Museum of the City of New York, the Historical Society mixes photography, art, objects, and education in both unique and grand shows. The best part of the museum was the Tiffany Lamp Exhibit, which I stupidly didn’t take photographs of. I was too lost in the beauty and space.

Benrubi Gallery

• Location: 521 West 26th Street, Floor 2
• Exhibit: “Gorgeousness: A Summer Pride Show Curated by Richard Renaldi”
• Ends: September 17th  
  • Details: Curated by Richard Renaldi, this tiny but vibrant show features works by various artists that explore themes of beauty, identity, and pride within the LGBTQ+ community.
  • Personal Notes: Benrubi feels too small a space for their importance, but they are a visit when you are in the far-west gallery neighborhood. The work was varied, unique, inspirational, emotional, and dramatic. This was also a masterclass on how to fill a gallery wall.

Printed Matter

• Location: 231 11th Avenue
  • Details: Printed Matter is the bookstore and organization behind the NY Art Book Fair, and “the world’s leading non-profit organization dedicated to the dissemination, understanding and appreciation of artists’ books.”
  • Personal Notes: They were redoing the photography section, so I was only able to snap a few photos. This store and organization are special.

Fotografiska New York

• Location: 281 Park Avenue South (21st + 22nd)
• Exhibit: “Vivian Maier: Unseen Work” and “Bruce Gilden: Why These?”
• Ends: September 29th  
  • Details: A multi-floor exhibition showcasing the street and portrait photography of Vivian Maier and Bruce Gilden, with juxtaposed styles and spirit.
  • Personal Notes: The 25-minute walk in 95-degree heat was where I questioned why I was doing all of this. Which was fitting since it culminated in the depressing Fotografiska, the last exhibition before it leaves its cathedral of a building. Will this post be a grand idea that fizzles? One of the most gorgeous buildings in the city (The 1894 Church Missions House, “a magnificent steel-frame Romanesque structure inspired by the medieval guildhalls of Amsterdam and Haarlem”), a central location, an energetic and modern photography mission, a hip cafe, and a bookstore with a vibrant selection. A speakeasy and restaurant to help support the rent. Yet at the same time, it all missed the mark. Why? The show selection consistently lacked inspiration. I can’t explain it better than Jorg Colberg’s The Neoliberal Photo Museum Is Not Your Friend. The formula didn’t work. Even the slow, aging elevator and creaky building clashed with the museum’s modern makeup, the underlit yet drab galleries befitting more a club than a museum. Perhaps it would have been better after a few bottles of wine. The museum felt like it was pandering, and the current show, while a must-see, is the height of this pander. Two floors of Unseen Vivian Maier, the most seen photographer of the decade; so many of her spectacular photographs, rescued from under her bed and held hostage in these drab rooms. The floor below holds Bruce Gilden’s Why These, a befitting title. I understand the idea of photographing ugly, exposing and sharing the unseen, but there is no love shown in these photographs. They exploit the idea of ugly. The irony is that many of Maier’s photographs were the ones that truly cut. As a whole, I want to love Fotografiska, but it is depressing to say how much I hate it. I sincerely hope they find their way and fix their focus in a new space. As of now, the most beautiful thing about the gallery in its current state is the carpet on the way out.

Dashwood Books

• Location: 33 Bond Street (off Lafayette)
  • Details: A New York photography book mecca in a chic basement storefront on the gorgeous cobblestones of Bond Street. A community in a storefront, a convenient downtown location, and they often host book launches and signings. 
  • Personal Notes: I popped into the air conditioning of one of the most inspirational tiny spaces in the city, to reinvigorate from the depressing Fotografiska. I urge you all to visit the esteemed Miwa Susuda and her smile behind the counter, try to stump her with your complex and weird interests, and see the magical books she snaps from behind your ear. Just as magical are the questions she asks to learn you, often cutting deeply (in a good way). There is an art to her questions. While searching through the packed and vibrant shelves, the small space encourages you to eavesdrop on her fascinating conversations within a shop that attracts the most fascinating of people.

Staley-Wise Gallery

• Location: 100 Crosby Street, Suite 305 (off Prince)
• Exhibit: “Pairs”
• Ends: August 16th  
  • Details: The idea of pairs is used to comb the Staley-Wise archives.
  • Personal Notes: I enjoyed the Staley-Wise space more than Howard Greenberg or Edwynn Souk (not saying I disliked the other two). As you walk down a long hallway, you expect to pop into a quiet little gallery, but then the pristine and bright walls open up to an oasis. Pairs was a smart choice. And half the gallery consists of their back rooms, which show a selection of fascinating and often iconic prints that go beyond the show. A must-visit.
  • ADD Note: I’d love to give these galleries random themes for shows. Mid-40s Bald Men. Cheese. Food in the bathroom. I sense a Bravo show idea.

Baxter St at the Camera Club of New York

• Location: 126 Baxter Street (off Canal)
• Exhibit: “Avion Pearce: 2024 Aperture Portfolio Prize Winner”
• Ends: July 26th 
  • Details: Showcasing In The Hours Before Dawn by Avion Pearce, winner of the 2024 Aperture Portfolio Prize.
  • Personal Notes: “An ode to the possibilities of the midnight hours. The experience of the queer and trans community of color in Brooklyn.” I was unfamiliar with Pearce’s work, which was touching, tender, sharp spiritually, and filled with color. Red room lighting that only enhanced this color. My first visit to the two gallery storefronts of the Camera Club of New York, and I want to be a fly on the wall there. Sadly, this gallery is where I walk and work three days a week, right off Canal, on a random side block that I never choose to walk. Right under my nose, the 140-year organization, with such a wonderful gallery. My only thought was that those walls needed to be filled, in the vein of Benrubi or Printed Matter. I wanted to see more of Avion. Tack prints to the wall, I don’t care. More! And pardon my crappy photos by this point, I was wiped!

International Center of Photography (ICP)

• Location: 79 Essex Street (off Delancey)
• Exhibit: “Selections from ICP at 50: From the Collection, 1845–2019”, “Shared Spaces,” and “Yto Barrada, Part-Time Abstractionist”
• Ends: January 6th, 2025 
  • Details: Selections from the archive, student projects, and abstractions.
  • Personal Notes: I visited two days after this walk to take photographs, otherwise the title would have been ’14 photography shows.’ Any time you can see the ICP mine their archives is a great day, and this didn’t disappoint, except for some reason they left out photographs from between photography’s invention in 1822 until 1845 and photographs from 2020-2024. They say, “This exhibit traces the development of the medium and photography’s impact on culture and history,” which basically translates to, ‘We chose some bangers from the archive.’ No focus but top-notch photographs. The “Shared Spaces” exhibit balanced this out well to see a variety of energetic student projects. And I’m still trying to learn to appreciate abstract photography, so I’m not the right person to comment on the Yto Barrada exhibit, although the far wall line of six square prints in white frames was quite beautiful. I prefer when the ICP exhibits are more focused, but still an enjoyable show. Also, I love the bookstore here.