I lived in NY briefly at the same time as this gentleman. It was a rough city. He captured it well but I would have liked a LOT more pictures and less talk about and with some of the inhabitants (especially the newsstand guy). I was also wishing, he had titled the pictures. ( )

David J. Bookbinder's Street People Portfolio does a superb job of documenting a city that no longer exists. Going through the various photographs I was constantly wondering whatever happened to these people. Bookbinder's book is a refreshing antidote to current trends in academia that place emphasis on categories of race, gender, and class at the expense of the individual. Irrespective of their position in life each of the subjects of Bookbinder's book celebrates the uniqueness of personhood. Each individual has his own style of expressing themselves despite the challenges of living in the city. Very grateful to Bookbinder for publishing this collection of photographs that capture existence for posterity. Highly recommend this book to everyone. ( )

Really think there are things no one would see if I didn’t photograph them. Diane Arbus.

I have never been to New York and I only know it through the images I have seen in films or photography books or exhibitions. This book has allowed me to add other places to my knowledge, far from me not only in space (I live in Italy) but also in time, allowing me to get to know people and cultures that I will never be able to approach.

But there are other things in this book that make it interesting as well. In the introduction, the Author tells about his project, about the troubled history it had and discovers a part of himself that I find as interesting as the images he took. Among the thoughts he shares with us there is one that particularly struck me; is when he said: I have also witnessed how, through art, we can vicariously experience the lives of others and see their points of view from the inside. I find that this is exactly what this book communicates both about the people and places it portrays, and about the author himself. ( )

This is a book of portraits of life in New York (Manhattan and Brooklyn to be exact) in the 1970s: street people, vendors, kids, regular people hanging out; a dead dog, people who might be dead. The author has taken some beautiful, unflinching photographs. In a section titled Streets, he has done some stunning work with shadow and light.

The photos also made me think about how each of the individual people found themselves in their current situation. Where did they come from? Who are they really? And this is also a gift. Because it really is more global than just New York. There always seems to be something or someone we try not to see. Street People Portfolio is mostly about the people that survive the streets in one way or the other. It is about humanity. So it is, in fact, about each of us. ( )