Photo of the Week #206
Neal Slavin
THE PRAYER PROJECT: Inter-Faith Gathering of Religious Leaders, NYC, 2015
THE PRAYER PROJECT: Pentecostal Storefront Church, Brooklyn, NY
THE PRAYER PROJECT: Voodoo Service, Canarsie, Brooklyn, NY
THE PRAYER PROJECT: Meditation on Death, Brooklyn, NY
THE PRAYER PROJECT: Buddhist Temple, NYC
THE PRAYER PROJECT: Hindu Temple, Brooklyn, NY, 2016
THE PRAYER PROJECT: Muslim Women Bowing, NYC, 2014
THE PRAYER PROJECT: Hari Krishnas, NYC, 2015
Staten Island Ferry, 1973
THE PRAYER PROJECT: Chabad Rebbe, Brooklyn, NY, 2011
The Troc Burlesque Theatre, Philadelphia, PA, 1973
Electrolux Vacuum Cleaner Convention, NYC, 1974
Sabrett Hot Dog Vendors, NYC, 1974
New York City Transit Authority, Coney Island, Station, Brooklyn, NY, 1974
Staff of the New York Public Library, Main Reading Room, NYC, 1974
Capital Wrestling Corporation, Washington DC, 1974
Grand Canyon National Park, National Park Service, Grand Canyon, AZ, 1974
Cemetary Workers & Greens Attendants, Ridgewood, NY, 1974
Staff of the Statue of Liberty, 1974
Taff Merthyr Colliery, Treharris, South Wales, UK, 1983
Black Dyke Mills Brass Band, Bradford, Yorkshire, 1983
The Hope Pub; Smithfield Meatpackers, London, 1983
Custodial Staff, Stonehenge, Wiltshire, UK, 1984
Rescue Team, Royal National Lifeboat Institution, 1984
Painters of the Forth Rail Bridge, Firth of Forth, Scotland, 1984
Life Models, Bath Art School, Bath, UK, 1984
Elephant Keepers with Katie & Kumara, Whipsnade Park Zoo, Dunstable, Bedfordshire, UK, 1984
New York Stock Exchange, NYC, 1986
American Red Cross Demonstrating Artificial Respiration, Washington, DC, 1987
Transit Car #1540, Silver Springs, MD, 1987
Aircraft Restoration Technicians inside the Enola Gay, Suitland, MD, 1987
Elizabeth Arden Masseuses, Washington, DC, 1987
Bingo & Buddies, Santa Clauses, Silver Springs, MD, 1986
Performers at the Hangar Club, Camp Springs, MD 1987
Hazardous Materials Response Team, Fairfax, VA, 1988
Union Station and Restoration Crew, Washington DC, 1988
Editorial Staff of the New York Times Magazine, New York City, c. 2011
Since 1972 Neal Slavin has been documenting groups and gatherings. From bingo players to ballroom dancers to religious congregations Slavin has photographed seemingly every imaginable organization that human beings have dreamed up. While the pictures themselves are most often posed Slavin has always asked that his subjects arrange themselves in front of the camera, allowing natural hierarchies, group dynamics, and indications of status to emerge. Through these pictures Slavin has sought to capture the inner character of these groups of people much as a portrait photographer seeks to capture the essence of an individual.
Slavin is currently working on THE PRAYER PROJECT, a book and film which embraces the gatherings of many different religious groups - a timely series in our present era of growing intolerance. In discussing his motivations, Slavin wrote: "I want my work to affirm our self identity within our public persona; to affirm the joy of being together rather than being apart. My intention is to intensely glimpse that kind of human spirit through the lens of my camera.”
Neal Slavin is both a still photographer and film director. His photographic books include PORTUGAL, WHEN TWO OR MORE ARE GATHERED TOGETHER, and BRITONS. In addition Slavin is a film director whose credits include FOCUS; written by Arthur Miller, which stars William H. Macy and Laura Dern.
His photographs are both privately and publicly collected. They are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Centre Pompidou, the International Center of Photography (ICP), the National Portrait Gallery and the National Museum of American Art , the National Museum of Photography, Film & Television, and the John Paul Getty Museum.
Slavin has been the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship in addition to receiving two CAPS grants and a National Endowment in the Arts grant. His teaching credentials include classes and workshops at Les Recontres d’Arles in Provence, The Cooper Union, Manhattanville College, The School of Visual Arts, The City University of New York at Queens College as well as serving as a visiting artist at the Art Institute of Chicago. He is currently teaching a special combined class for Pace University and the International Center of Photography at his studio in New York City where he also gives private workshops.
Neal Slavin sat down with Anthony Mason to discuss his current show at the gallery. The interview was featured on CBS This Morning: Saturday.
Tammy La Gorge, writing for the New York Times, discusses Neal Slavin's group portratiture - including a slideshow featuring nine examples of his singular approach to group portraiture.