2020 has certainly been an unprecedented year of difficulties and extreme challenges. It began as a prosperous year with low unemployment, hope and optimism for a brighter future. The 2008 recession seemed to be a thing of the past. Life seemed good, that is, until COVID-19 struck, forcing us to shut down our economy temporarily, or so we had thought. To make matters worse, our federal government’s ineptitude and Americans arguing about whether or not we should be wearing masks is causing too many Americans to lose their jobs, be evicted, shut their businesses forever and needlessly die. Our reality has been turned upside down, a topsy-turvy conundrum where objective facts no longer have meaning. What truths do we now hold to be self-evident?
Then, the George Floyd murder happened in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Having lived through and photographed the 1992 Los Angeles Riots, I assumed that things would have to get better. Sadly, however, not much has changed over the years as African-Americans are still being murdered by the police at rates far greater than white people. As a result, The George Floyd murder has unleashed years of anger, frustration and resentment.
In mid-March, when the shut-down was announced, many luxury retail shops on Fifth Avenue and Soho were boarded up to protect their merchandise and properties. In May, after the George Floyd murder, many of these shops were intentionally looted and ransacked. This created a domino effect whereby almost every storefront in Soho was boarded up. Soho looked as if a major hurricane was about to hit or that we had been invaded by a foreign power. New York had become a slow-motion ghost town, the likes of which none of us had ever seen in our lifetimes.
And, then in the midst of this chaos and anarchy, a rather extraordinary thing began to happen: little by little, artists came to Soho and began creating art on the boarded-up store fronts. New life was beginning to grow and blossom on the streets of Soho. The “lonely quarantine” streets were transformed into a beautiful and colorful public art space with a message. The art was political. The art was provocative. The art was beautiful. The art was hopeful. The art was non-apologetic. The art inspired change. The art was diverse, like the “melting pot” New York City is meant to be. I knew this would be an historical and beautiful New York City moment and I wanted to document and capture what I was seeing and feeling.
The more I photographed the art work, which was spread across a large area of Soho, the more I felt that it all somehow had to be connected. I began to see the artwork as a metaphor of New York City: it’s strength, resolve, ingenuity, creativity, resourcefulness, commitment and diversity. It was a diverse group of artists all coming together to fight the same causes, all with similar messages yet different ways to express them. It was this concept of interconnectedness during difficult times that inspired the idea to create large photo-mosaics. Amidst the destruction, the mosaics are colorful and beautiful, representing the hope and change inspired by New Yorkers. Even within our diversity, differences and conflicts, we can all find ways to live and work together in peace and harmony.
