Vivian Cherry, who is now 98-years-old began her career as a photographer during World War II when she was working as a dancer in Broadway shows and nightclubs. While job-hunting, she saw a handwritten sign that advertised “Darkroom Help Wanted! – No Experience Necessary!” She got the job and started printing news images for Underwood and Underwood, a prominent photo service. As her darkroom skills developed, her curiosity about making photographs did too.
Soon, she joined the Photo League, a group of young New York City professional photographers dedicated to teaching and supporting the art of photography. There she studied under the guidance of Sid Grossman and began selling her photo essays to popular magazines while she continued dancing in Broadway musicals and supper clubs. An exhibition currently on view at Daniel Cooney Fine Art in New York shares her work from that time, through a selection of about 50 photographs from Cherry’s lifetime of work and specifically on her portrayal of the Lower East Side, the Third Avenue El (and its deconstruction), and her surprising images of New York’s children.
The Third Avenue El photographs document commuters and the views from the train that once connected Harlem to Chinatown and everywhere in between. Vivian Cherry also documented the destruction of the famed El, which brought onlookers to the street to watch the massive structure systematically crumble. The Lower East Side photographs relish in the diversity of post war New York with deep roots in the old countries of Italy, Poland, Ireland and Russia. Her unforgettable photographs of children living in New York expose the violence that comes with being a child. The games of war and guns and even lynching are truly remarkable.
Vivian Cherry, Helluva Town
May 3 – June 23
Daniel Cooney Fine Art
508 W 26th St
New York, NY 10001
USA
