New York City is a set. And the drama of our collective lives spills out over the city’s streets, unbounded by the borough distinctions and neighborhood boundaries that we use to orient ourselves and each other. Nearly 100 years ago, when photographers started moving outdoors onto our common asphalt to capture the quotidian events of days otherwise unremarkable, they gave birth to a new genre. In New York, street photography blossomed and bulged, each fresh lens capturing one of the unique configurations of life in the city. And every corner, empty lot, and passing face was fair game.
Photographer and documentarian Cheryl Dunn and producer Lucy Cooper turn their camera on this lush field in their new documentary Everybody Street, chronicling the history of New York street photography through some of its major voices. Shot over three years, the film chronicles the history of street photography in the city and the distinct artists who have shaped it. Featuring the work of Bruce Davidson, Jill Freedman, Joel Meyerowitz, Mary Ellen Mark, and others, the film encapsulates not only the effervescence of New York but of the many photographers who have taken to its streets to produce their art. Watch Everybody Street now, and click through to sample the work of the photographers featured in the film.
Image credit: Bruce Davidson
Subway, New York City, 1980
Image credit: Martha Cooper
Untitled (Lower East Side 1977-1980) from Street Play
Image credit: Clayton Patterson
Taylor Mead, New York City
Image credit: Bruce Gilden
New York City, 1984
Image credit: Joel Meyerowitz
New York City, 1975
Image credit: Elliot Erwitt
New York City, 1950
Image credit: Jamal Shabazz
Man and Dog, New York City, 1980
Image credit: Mary Ellen Mark
Girls with Goggles in the Surf, Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York, 2003
Image credit: Ricky Powell
LL Cool J
Image credit: Boogie
Bushwick, Brooklyn, 2005
Image credit: Jill Freedman
Untitled, from Street Cops
Image credit: Jeff Mermelstein
Untitled, NYC from Sidewalk
