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The Arts Intel Report

The Eyes of the City

Richard Sandler, R Train, N.Y.C., 1982.

Feb 11 – Mar 12, 2023
614 Courtlandt Ave, Bronx, NY 10451

Richard Sandler was born in Queens in 1946 but didn’t start photographing New York until 1977, when he was given a Leica. “Street photography is difficult and rewarding,” Sandler has said. “Sometimes intuition precedes the intellect.” His photos date to a pre–9/11 Manhattan; without explanation, he stopped shooting Manhattan after the Twin Towers fell. In 2017, Sandler compiled his images of the city—Grand Central Station, anonymous street corners, subway platforms—into a black-and-white monograph titled The Eyes of the City. The Bronx Documentary Center has put many of these photos on view, along with never-before-seen prints from Sandler’s archive. —Jensen Davis

Photo: © Richard Sandler