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Copyright Jenny Rubin 2014, used with permission.
Jenny Rubin is known by the many roles she lives as a comedian, author and actress in New York City, New York Walk is her first book of photography. Anyone who’s heard Rubin perform knows her forte is not the one liner or the pun, but the comedic and dramatic arc of the story.
Ideally, photography is about telling a story. Somewhere along the way, many of us forget this. We become obsessed with paychecks or page views, chasing technical perfection or acquiring the latest gear and the story is lost amongst the noise. Yet, here is book that is nothing but The Story. Page after page of images gathering little moments of life among the Eight Million, each poignant, each timeless.
And timeless is a very apt phrase to discuss the photography in New York Walks, because these photographs disconnect from the Now. The people and places are modern in every sense, yet comparing them to the images taken on the streets of New York by other photographers spanning the past few decades it is impossible not see how easily the subjects could slip out of Now and stand comfortably Then.
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Copyright Jenny Rubin 2014, used with permission.
Rubin’s style is simplistic and unfettered, up until recently shot entirely on her iPhone she has managed to step outside the mania dominating contemporary photography for tack sharp imagery and sweeping compositions and simply focus on the scene provided. Her photos fill with motion blur, deep shadows and unexpected angles as she snatched moments from the streets. And the title New York Walks is not a misnomer, Rubin DID the walks, endless hours along the streets of Manhattan and boroughs. She went out to where the photo were and took them, not for an assignment or project but rather out of a passion for street photography. The theme which emerges is free-flowing, yet still coherent: the people and places in her life.
The photographers skills come through strongest with human subjects, where the loose framing and focus impart a sense of motion and life. They do not carry as well to the still life and landscape images, where the limitations of the equipment become more observable. She presents several strong photos of architecture and street scapes, but they never quite match the vitality of her candid portrait work.
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Copyright Jenny Rubin 2014, used with permission.
New York Walk is predominantly Black and White, but the few splashes of color photography are always vibrant and cohesive. The color work also serves to lighten the tone of book, which is not “noir” or down, but gritty and all that the word implies. The color offerings are almost always joyful, and provide a nice balance to the whole. Her selections in the book all complement one another and whole, a notable accomplishment when drawing from one’s catalog for a first effort.
All said, this book appeals to those who appreciate the Street Photography aesthetic in its purest form, divorced from the worry of what other photographers will think of her work. Rubin is shooting for her pleasure, and while active on social media, she eschews the click bait formula common to so many Instagrammers. Her work presented directly, without extensive comment or embellishment, leaving the story to the viewer rather than the algorithms of Likes and Shares. There is a purity in what she is doing here that she shares with a personal hero of her’s: Vivian Maier . In another time and place, Jenny Rubin’s images might have sat unnoticed. Fortunately for us, they have not.
I look forward to watching Jenny mature as a photographer and explore the horizons ahead. I suspect her sense of story and eye for the moment will grow as she moves on to gear that expands her reach. New York Walks is available on Blurb starting at $48.00, which I assure you is basically at cost having self published on Blurb. If you love New York, if love photography, or know someone who loves either or both pick this book up. Jenny isn’t worried, she is too busy out there shooting.
Full Disclosure: I am not an unbiased reviewer .My bias is knowing the photographer personally. My bias is loving this type of photography and my bias is loving GOOD photography.