Black & White 1990s NYC

More from the 35MM archives.  NYC as seen through a 21 year old art student's eyes in 1994.

It Was A Pleasure Then

The way we were: Kate DiMonda, Gwen Singley, Kevin Burke, Maura Geelan,
Herb Ascherman, Christos Prevezanos and Jeff Spangler (with one of his old friends from home).
Art Skool Kids doing Art Skool Things in class and on the town.  NYC 1994.

From The Archives: Tim Burton Macy's NYC Windows 1993

The windows of the 34th St. Herald Square NYC Macy's was a temporary display space for original sets from Tim Burton's "Nightmare Before Christmas" in October 1993.  I shot these with my old Yashica when some friends from Parsons Illustration and I took a special post-class walk up to Midtown just to see these little dioramas.  It was a novelty to see Hollywood set pieces come to life while standing on an NYC sidewalk.  It was even more intriguing to see that the world famous Macy's windows were blacked out, save for a small round hole of transparency in each.  It was through these holes that one really got to understand the minute scale on which Tim Burton was working to create this magic world of his own unique and distinctive design.  Upon revisiting these images the other day (for the first time in 18 years) I realized that there was an added bonus:  In some shots, the viewer can see the reflection of the illuminated sign from the now-defunct Woolworth's store across the street.  Damn, I really miss Woolworth's.

There Goes The Neighborhood

Shots of Times Square from 1996 and 1997:  Old things receding, new things emerging.

Say what you will about it, but those of us who were around at that time marveled how rapidly the transition from porn theatres and shady storefronts to Disney-themed stores and family entertainment occurred.  Good, bad or indifferent, within a six year span it was almost a completely different neighborhood than it had been previously.  Some earlier strains remained, but it was a lot like watching the construction of a theme park called Times Las Vegas Square.

Art Skool Damage 1994

Talk about having a bad case of Art Skool Damage...

A 1994 self portrait for a photography class at Parsons.  

No shirt, Christmas lights and scratched negative pretense.  How '90s is THAT?
Yeah, I know... I'm not Matt Mahurin or Samuel Bayer.  Why didn't anyone tell me that then?

From The Archives: Out In NYC > The 1990s

Lush at Irving Plaza.  May 1996.

Bjork at The Hammerstein Ballroom.  May 1998.

Suede At The Supper Club.  May 1997.

ABOVE: Duran Duran in-store appearance at the now-defunct Sam Goody.  April 1995.

I was not only amazed that there was a line all the way around the block for this event, but I was also amazed at the enormous spill over of fans (and local news crews) onto 6th avenue.  

It temporarily shut down traffic for some very angry NYC motorists, but made for a great moment.

BELOW: Duran Duran at Roseland Ballroom.  November 1997.

BELOW: A strange little Duran Duran footnote.

John Taylor (during his 1997-2001 hiatus from the band) doing a one-off semi-secret 

solo show as part of the CMJ New Music Festival at Sidewalk Bar in the East Village.

It was the second time I'd talked to JT and I (once again) found that he was just as 

friendly, open, engaging and unpretentious as he was said to be by others who'd met or worked with him.

I was (at the time) sad that he'd left such a great international pop supernova such as Duran Duran (which even THEY will now admit was on its last legs) but he would later rejoin the DD fold to create new, exciting albums and help them achieve a rather stunning return to form.