Black White Photography - UK (2019-11)

23

B+W

T

hese photographs were

made over a few months:

September – December

1971. I was staying with
      friends in a loft on the Bowery
      near Grand Street and walking
      to a darkroom on 14th Street
      often. I printed some of the
      photos, but felt that they were
      too intrusive to show.’ So writes
      Edward Grazda of the images
      in On the Bowery.
      Laid out as full bleed images
      that interlock with one another,
      the work depicts the homeless,
      the poor, the drunks and addicts
      whose home is on the Bowery –
      a place that, as the saying goes,
      is the longest street in America
      because once you get on it,
      you never get off.
      Today the area has been
      gentrified with shops, bars and
      restaurants and a whole new
      population – but these images
      remind us of the underbelly
      of capitalism, and all that
      goes with it.
      Elizabeth Roberts

T

he now iconic Highway

61, subject of a Bob

Dylan song (Revisited)

and many others beside,

is 1,600 miles long and passes

through eight states, running

from Minnesota to New

Orleans. Well known actress,

and photographer, Jessica

Lange was born in northern

Minnesota and has spent a

great deal of time travelling

this road.

Highway 61 is, in Lange’s

own words: ‘A chronical of

what I witnessed along and

near Highway 61’. The people,

the restaurants, the bars, the

hotels, the towns and the road

itself are described in Lange’s

black & white images with

an intimacy that allows the

viewer to feel present alongside

her as she drives. Often

posed, sometimes candid, her

portraits tell of the connection

she instinctively achieves with

her subjects – they tell of the

hardship of the many places

on route that are struggling

to survive or have faded into

oblivion, leaving behind just

a handful of survivors.

Elizabeth Roberts

F

or Geert Broertjes

photography gave him a

way of dealing with some

of the hardest life events

that we can face. His aunt, his

grandmother and his mother

all died in a short space of time,

and then his relationship broke

up. He turned to alcohol and

drugs to alleviate the pain,

but ultimately discovered that

they were not the props he

was searching for. He began to

document, in grainy black &

white, his life and experiences –

and through this, found solace.

But it wasn’t the end of the

story, for his father’s cancer

re-occurred and, at the time of

publication, Broertjes himself is

also being treated for cancer.

It takes considerable courage

and insight to find the creativity

and perseverance to continue

with a project under such

circumstances but Broertjes

has brought this book to

fruition, beautifully produced

and conceived, and a great

inspiration.

Elizabeth Roberts

A

lecturer in photography

at Belfast School of

Art, Ken Grant started

photographing his

native town, Liverpool, from

an early age, particularly the

docklands area where he worked

as a labourer in his youth.

Shot over a long period of time

(1989-97), the book describes a

particular place, the Moss, where

the cold wings of the Thatcher

era have taken their toll, and

where the locals search among

the dumped household rubbish

for items they can use or sell.

The images are tough and

unrelenting, but they are seen

through a tender eye, that of an

insider. The disused buildings,

the poor housing, the mounds

of trash, all paint a picture of

deprivation and hardship – but

human misery and spirit are

both evident in the set faces and

the palpable comradeship.

People gather round a fire;

children trawl for old tyres; men

break things apart, looking for

useful components, a woman

holds up a dress to see if it will

fit. Birds swoop down among the

plastic bags. This is life.

Elizabeth Roberts

ON THE SHELF

NEWS

ONE YEAR

Geert Broertjes

Schilt Publishing

Hardback, € 35

HIGHWAY 61

Jessica Lange

powerHouse Books

Hardback, $75

BENNY PROFANE

Ken Grant

RRB PhotoBooks

Hardback, £60

(signed with 6x5in print)

Black+White’s line-up of some of the very best new photographic

publications out in the bookshops or to order online.

ON THE BOWERY

Edward Grazda

powerHouse Books

Hardback, $29.95

‘The work depicts

the homeless, the poor,

the drunks and addicts

whose home is on the

Bowery – a place that,

as the saying goes, is the

longest street in America

because once you get on

it, you never get off.’

‘Often posed, sometimes

candid, her portraits

tell of the connection she

instinctively achieves

with her subjects.’

‘