New York, Sidewalk closed
Black and white photographs of New York from 2023.
With an essay by Daniel Blochwitz in German and English.
After their successful “METROPOLIS, BERLIN” photo book – which received the Silver German Photo Book Award in 2021/22 – Barbara Wolff and Lunik Berlin Verlag are now presenting “NEW YORK, SIDEWALK CLOSED”, their second photo book. A book that is again dedicated to one of the great cities of the world.
Barbara Wolff’s photographs were taken during a month-long stay in New York in June 2023.
In almost timeless black and white photographs, Ms. Wolff shows us the New York of today, as a post-pandemic city that has risen after a dark and destructive time.
She chose to stay in four different parts of the city to give her a range of perspectives in changing surroundings. As she wandered through New York with light camera equipment, she was sometimes accompanied by local photographers who contacted her through her daily Instagram posts – and it was her followers who drove her picture stories forward.
Although New York had already been much photographed, she was able to wrest her own images with a broad depth of field. Indeed, the precision of her imagery reveals many levels of New York life that goes beyond simple portrayal.
Her photography reveals the dream destination of many tourists as well as the residents’ hopes and struggles for survival. There are the competing viewing platforms, which serve more for presentation purposes than for the view. And there are images of hopeful self-awareness trips that residents and tourists seek among the urban canyons between the high-rise buildings or along the East River…
The picture sections are introduced in an essay by Daniel Blochwitz, who works as a freelance curator and author specializing in photography. He lived in New York for many years himself and now lives in Switzerland. In his essay, he reflects on the city and its significance as a perpetual photographic theme and also reflects on his own experiences during his time in New York.
Barbara Wolff: NEW YORK, SIDEWALK CLOSED
144 pages, 21 x 28 cm, 112 black and white photographs in triplex print, thread stitching,
hardcover with linen, printed at the DZA Druckerei in Altenburg.
The book is supplied in four different cover variants.
ISBN 978-3-9822385-1-7
