New York 1987

Curator: The intensity of the gaze in Rosalind Solomon’s "New York," taken in 1987, is startling. Editor: Absolutely, you are confronted by a fierce protectiveness, a wariness, from this man with arms crossed, while an older couple lingers in the background. There is a definite moodiness here—a black and white study in discomfort, wouldn't you agree? Curator: Solomon's skill here lies in using a deceptively simple photographic approach to elicit complex emotional reactions. We're drawn into considering power dynamics, perhaps family histories and generational shifts, made potent by that intense look. What is he protecting, or who? Is it the people standing in the background? Editor: Maybe from being observed themselves? I find it very stagey, too, somehow. I mean, it's clearly a constructed scene. Look how the light separates them. It brings me back to all those awkward family portraits where nobody smiles but the parents are smiling and hoping everyone appears "normal". Do you get the sense it's a response to that tension and discomfort? Curator: I think it's both, and Solomon's portrait style, deeply rooted in documentary photography, gives that staged quality an edge. These aren’t posed celebrities; these are everyday people presented with a rawness and directness that is unusual. This approach challenges the romantic idea of the candid family portrait. What does showing all mean here? The black and white photography lends this timeless quality as well; the picture could be almost anytime in the mid-20th century! Editor: That's true. Black and white flattens time, but it also distills emotion somehow. It becomes about the shapes, the light, the inherent contrasts. Makes you consider the light—almost theatrical, the contrast makes you aware that things have been pushed for an effect. Curator: In this photograph, Rosalind explores a lot about public roles that family members might have; she makes us question the familiar comfort associated with images of parents and grandparents as kind and generous elders! Editor: Well, Rosalind certainly gave us food for thought, as ever. A moment frozen in time but echoing something deeply rooted within all of us.