Sailor and Girl, Sammy's, c. 1940
Gelatin silver print
20 × 16 inches
Published by Aperture in 1979
Signed and stamped on verso
April 27, 2026
In a classic slice of Manhattan life in the 1940s, a sailor is seen making the most of his shore leave at Sammy's Bowery Follies, an infamous dive bar and cabaret on the Lower East Side. The bar’s proximity to the Bowery House and other gritty flophouses ensured a lively atmosphere, where down-and-out regulars rubbed elbows with visitors from uptown, making it a favorite of photographers like Weegee and, as seen here, Lisette Model.
This picture was made at a pivotal moment in Model’s career. An Austrian of Jewish descent, she had fled Paris ahead of the Nazi occupation and settled in Manhattan, where she quickly made a name for herself with the bracing candor of her street photography. Model was an influential figure, both as a member of the Photo League and as a teacher. This image, with its evident fascination with the unvarnished and the intimate, could be seen as a clear antecedent to the mature style of her most famous student, Diane Arbus.
