Street photographer Richard Sandler has been recording the world around him by making raw, brutal, and uncompromising images since 1977, having been given a Leica camera by chance. After a few years shooting around Boston, he moved back to his hometown of New York City. It was the 80s and crime and crack were on the rise; the effects on places like Times Square, Harlem, and the East Village were devastating — a far cry from the wealth and opulence of Manhattan’s Upper East Side.
When the city’s urban and socio-political fabric underwent massive changes, Richard was there to capture it all. The results of Richard’s decade-spanning endeavors have been pieced together in a new book, which includes many never-before-printed images. From the anonymous masses in Grand Central Terminal to Orthodox Jews on the subway, The Eyes of the City is a tribute to the unrecognized ghosts of New York’s past.
The Eyes of the City by Richard Sandler is published by Powerhouse books.
Credits
Text Tish Weinstock