Sunday, October 11, 2009
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
157 Rivington Street
New York NY 10002
T. 212 253 2180
“The Front Door photos are a summation of everything I have ever learned. The photos are taken in front of the door at 161 Essex Street, which leads into Clayton Hats, Clayton Gallery and the Outlaw Art Museum. This also happens to be the place I live.
The front door represented two things for me: It was the Wall of Fame where I played host to many of the local graffiti writers and it was the background for many of the shots from the Hall of Fame The period represented is from 1985 to 2002. … The L.E.S. in the ’80s and into the ’90s was not the hip place it is today. For the most part, the photos were representative of people who lived in the section that outsiders considered dangerous and that was normally out of bounds for those who had no business being there.”
“For me, taking the front door photos was magic. It was like touching someone’s soul. We were sharing a moment in time together, in a very intimate and deep way. I always felt a union, a deep connection and respect for my subjects. We were one. We were exploring our inner selves to each other. I was saving a presence, a spirit, the image of a person from the moment, the here and now, for the future. All of us were the Lower East Side.”
Excerpts from essay by Clayton Patterson
