It’s a cop drama for lovers of photojournalism, or vice-versa. The American photographer Antonio Bolfo, represented by Reportage Getty Images, trailed a NYPD squad for two years to create a powerful series without traces of sensationalism. Bolfo accompanied officers on their patrols in the South Bronx housing projects, with the intention of giving a more nuanced view of law enforcement. “I wanted to show that they have a human face,” he said. “It’s a way to combat the stigma surrounding the police.”
Tagging along a group of young recruits assigned to a tough area, Bolfo knew that there was no telling what he might witness. “Projects aren’t an urban myth,” Bolfo explains. “They’re dangerous and are home to gangsters, dealers, murderers, rapists,” even if the majority of calls are for less dangerous but more common incidents like domestic disputes and missing children.
There are impact’s heated scenes of handcuffed young men and more laid-back visions of police : chatting on cell phones, lounging on rooftops and patrolling snowy streets, cigarette dangling from the lips. The wide-angle photographs capture emotions, expressions and the beauty of a gaze lost in thought.
Before undertaking this project, Bolfo served as an NYPD officer himself. He had just left his job as graphic designer at a video game company and wanted to try, “an experience with more social character.” becoming a press photographer, Bolfo acknowledges that he can’t, “save the world,” but will be given special access to the world’s major social events.
We wish him luck.
Jonas Cuénin
