JERRY SCHATZBERG
Inside His Studio - "25th & Park"
An intimate, loft-like room sits at the top floor of Fotografiska New York with elevated ceilings and buttressed, wooden architecture encompassing a warm and private interior. Now on display within this space, Jerry Schatzberg’s 25th & Park proffers insight on the images captured beginning in 1957 within the photographer’s studio, located no more than a three-minute walk from the museum. Standing in the dimly lit crown of Fotografiska, one is struck with the inclination of how the creative pursuit might have ensued for Schatzberg as well as the famed creatives who posed before his camera.
Known for his work as a director in films such as Scarecrow, The Panic in Needle Park, and Reunion, Schatzberg possessed fruitful relationships within the sphere of fashion, art, and celebrities. While his photographic work harnessed these attributes, the genre of music was also positioned at the centerpiece of his oeuvre. Among those he shot were figures such as Aretha Franklin, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Jimi Hendrix. Parallels between Schatzberg’s photographic and filmmaking projects remain apparent, the entirety of his body of work intersecting at a point between human intimacy and inherent storytelling.
The exhibition proffers a menagerie of images, some shot in color but most in black and white. Classical in composition, his body of work exists in layers of deep-seated intention while simultaneously prevailing in superlative timing and taste. Capturing both the prominent members of the city as well as those lacking that same level of notoriety, Schatzberg portrays each individual in a deliberate flourish of poised dignity. Bold and distinguished in permanent suspension, the portraits leave the viewer with an indisputable understanding; the person within the photograph was expertly and wholly in step with the rhythm of the city.
25th & Park is on view at Fotografiska until March 5, 2022. To learn more about the exhibition, visit here.
