Robert Herman: The New Yorkers:
Brooklyn born Photographer, Robert Herman began working as an usher at a movie theater owned
by his parents. The exposure to a wide range of films during his formative
years provided him with a unique vision: “Working for my father allowed me to
view the same movie repeatedly,” he recalls, “until the story line began to
recede and the images became independent of the narrative."
Robert received a BFA in film making from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University and received his Masters in Digital Photography from the School of Visual Arts in NYC. Later as a production still photographer on
independent feature films, Herman discovered the life at the periphery of film
locations was more compelling than the film sets. His book of his NYC color street photographs, The New Yorkers, to be self-published in the fall of 2013 with help from a successful Kickstarter campaign. His is currently also working with Fractured Atlas to defray additional costs and accepting additional tax deductible donations.
by his parents. The exposure to a wide range of films during his formative
years provided him with a unique vision: “Working for my father allowed me to
view the same movie repeatedly,” he recalls, “until the story line began to
recede and the images became independent of the narrative."
Robert received a BFA in film making from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University and received his Masters in Digital Photography from the School of Visual Arts in NYC. Later as a production still photographer on
independent feature films, Herman discovered the life at the periphery of film
locations was more compelling than the film sets. His book of his NYC color street photographs, The New Yorkers, to be self-published in the fall of 2013 with help from a successful Kickstarter campaign. His is currently also working with Fractured Atlas to defray additional costs and accepting additional tax deductible donations.
His work is part of the permanent collections of the George
Eastman House and the Telfair Museum in Savannah, GA. His photographs are also
in many private collections and has exhibited across the United States including
the Museum of Modern Art, the galleries of the Savannah College of Art &
Design, The Los Angeles Center for Digital Art and The Henry Gregg Gallery in
DUMBO. This spring, photographs from The
New Yorkers were included in a traveling exhibition that originated at the
Istanbul Photography Museum, and then moved to Ankara, Turkey with more venues
to be announced in the coming months.
Eastman House and the Telfair Museum in Savannah, GA. His photographs are also
in many private collections and has exhibited across the United States including
the Museum of Modern Art, the galleries of the Savannah College of Art &
Design, The Los Angeles Center for Digital Art and The Henry Gregg Gallery in
DUMBO. This spring, photographs from The
New Yorkers were included in a traveling exhibition that originated at the
Istanbul Photography Museum, and then moved to Ankara, Turkey with more venues
to be announced in the coming months.
The New Yorkers
NewYork City is like a diamond mine. The pressure will turn one into coal dust or
a multi-faceted jewel. To survive with some sort of evolving grace, it is
absolutely essential to cultivate a Zen-like awareness. Consciously choosing to
be in a state of openness is also useful for making photographs. To paraphrase
the art critic John Berger: A photograph that surprises the photographer when
he makes it, in turn surprises the viewer. No matter how hardened and cynical
one becomes, the act of taking a picture, forces one to try to return to an
innocent wonder. Every time I go out to make photographs, I ask myself this
question: Can I see the world with vulnerability and clarity?
The
New Yorkers is a body of work that I began when I was still a student at NYU,
when I was learning to be a photographer. I was living in Little Italy at the
time and everyone around me seemed to be a subject: the man who changed tires,
the superintendent of the building next door. I discovered Harry Callahan’s magnificent book: Color and
Robert Frank’s The Americans. These images opened my mind to what a strong
photograph could be. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then this
was my starting point. Both of these photographers re-made the mundane, the
ordinary and the everyday and transformed them into small and transcendent
jewels.
Over
the years, I lived in several different apartments and I continued making pictures
in whatever neighborhood I happened to be living in. Becoming comfortable in my
new surroundings would ease the way for me to make the authentic photographs I
was seeking. Key to this body of work was letting the subject matter determine
the outcome. I would make myself available, allowing my intuition to be my guide
and let the content rise to the surface. The true epiphany was not to embellish
or to judge: with the removal of the internal impediment strong subject matter
would speak for itself. Like a man searching for water in the desert with a
dousing rod, I became a vessel and allowed the images to pass through me onto
the film.
As an illustration of this, “Eldorado” was made
on a day when I was sitting around my loft with my girl friend at the time when
suddenly I said, “ I’ll be right back, I have to go out and take some
pictures.” Ann nodded her ascent and with my Nikon F in hand, I walked around
the corner onto Mulberry Street.
In the bright afternoon sun two luxury cars were parked angling in from
the street towards a large green garage door. I chose my framing just as two
boys walked into the shot and I made my picture. I was back at home five minutes later and knew I had captured
something truly special. I was at a loss to explain what had just happened. It
was truly a mystery. I realized that if I were wiling to relinquish some
control, I would occasionally be rewarded with strong photographs. I went out to search for water
in order to survive, and I was led to something shining down from the sky and bubbling
up from the ground.
There
is synchronicity and coincidence present everywhere. Photographs are a way of
revealing hidden relationships that are only present for a moment in space and
time, seen from a unique vantage point. The New Yorkers is the record of my
self-discovery as a photographer, inside and out, manifested on the streets of
New York City.
This post first appeared on Every Little Thing She Does Is Manic, please read the originial post: here
