William Klein
Selwyn 42nd Street, New York
1955
Gelatin Silver Print
19”x15”
Purchased with funding from the State of New York. Percent for Art Program, 2003.

William Klein is a photographer and filmmaker known for his fashion photography and photojournalism. I was really attracted to how slick and deep the black tones appear in this piece and how the distorted signage reflects and swirls around the curves of the car in front. The car’s smooth texture contrasts with the speckled sidewalk, which also parallels how the group of people appear scattered throughout the mid-ground. The Selwyn Theatre was restored and renamed the American Airlines Theatre in the late 90’s, and it’s comforting for me to see the evolution of a space while it still maintains its original purpose. It’s a pretty ironic sentiment to say that I miss walking around midtown, seeing as I’m typically quick to condemn the location as a tourist trap, but I blame social distancing from COVID-19 and being stripped of live art performances.

Written by Jess DeAngelis, graduate student in the Arts Administration program at Baruch.