Gazing

Rebecca Norris Webb
Brooklyn, New York [From the series “The Glass Between Us”], 2000
Chromogenic development print
2020.10.633

Rebecca Norris Webb has lived in New York City for more than 25 years. Originally a poet, she brings a lyrical sensibility to her photography and often interweaves text into her imagery. This photograph is part of a larger series published as a book entitled The Glass Between Us: Reflections on Urban Creatures (2006), that examines people’s complex relationship with animals in cities, primarily in the context of “conservation parks” such as zoos and aquariums. This image, taken at the New York Aquarium in Coney Island, uses reflections and distortion of the water tanks to blur the boundaries between the young boy and the aquatic life he is observing.

Michael Spano
Untitled [From the series “Splits”], 1999
Gelatin silver print
2020.10.589

Carrie Boretz
New York City Subway, #24A, 1995–1996
Gelatin silver print
2020.10.36

Ed Grazda
Number 7 IRT to Flushing [From the series “Flushing Project”], 2002
Gelatin silver print
2020.10.185

Edward Keating
Untitled [Bus stop advertisement], 1994
Gelatin silver print
2020.10.210

Edward Keating lived and worked as a photographer in New York City from 1981 until his passing in September 2021. In the classic tradition, he taught himself how to take pictures by prowling the streets to document the lives of everyday New Yorkers. By 1991, he was hired as a staff photographer at The New York Times. There, he covered national and international news and was a regular contributor to The New York Times Magazine. He also co-founded “Vows,” The New York Times’ wedding column. In 2002, Keating won the Pulitzer Prize for his coverage on the attacks of 9/11. He has also been a regular contributor to TIME magazine, Rolling Stone, W magazine and New York Magazine. This photograph, taken at a bus stop, is a quintessential slice-of-life street photograph of New York; the three figures depicted all have a similarly directed gaze, yet each conveys a distinct personality and attitude, reflecting the many stories that intersect on the streets on a regular basis.

Eliot Elisofon
[52nd Street, woman looking at “For Men Only” Mutoscope], c. 1945
Gelatin silver print
2020.10.82

Helen Levitt
[Woman and taxi], 1982
Gelatin silver print
2020.10.248

Saul Leiter
Dick and Adele, the Village, c. 1947
Gelatin silver print
2020.10.222

George S. Zimbel
Irish Dance Hall, The Bronx, 1954
Gelatin silver print
2020.10.646