Unseen New York: Rare Works by Charles Ruppmann

Unseen New York: Rare Works by Charles Ruppmann
1960 — 1980

   December 10, 2016 — January 22, 2017

Opening Reception: Saturday, December 10th   2 — 5 pm

The Field Library Gallery is proud to bring back celebrated New York Daily News photographer Charles Ruppmann in Unseen New York: Rare Works 1960 — 1980.  In this new exhibit — carefully curated from over 3,000 archival photos, many seen here  for the first time —  Ruppmann captures the citizens of New York in a series of portraits unmatched in their striking complexity, clarity and mystery.  His varying subjects — dissolute and gritty, glorious and glamorous, striking and resolute— are perfectly realized in their singular moments in time. Many of the photos are shown in their original, unedited formats with the News’ editors grease-pencil mark-ups; some are photos-of-photos, the original negatives having been stolen or lost from the archives.

Charles Ruppmann started out as a copyboy at the Daily News immediately after graduating high school in 1960, and later was encouraged to apprentice in the photo department darkroom to learn the workings and technique from the ground up.  His talent and hard work led him to be promoted to one of 54 staff photographers in February of 1967.

Honing his craft during the overnight shift, he covered the entire beat of the city: crime, society events, riots, fires and the beginnings of paparazzi photography. For Unseen New York, Ruppmann puts a distinctly individualistic face on the signposts of the times.  Black, LGBTQ and women’s rights activists, Vietnam Veterans Against the War, masked,protesting priests,  stoic cops on their way to quell riots, weary subway riders,  vendors in Spanish Harlem markets and champagne-swilling Danceteria new wavers are all captured by Ruppmann’s lens and transformed by his keen eye into high art.

Charles Ruppmann was born and raised in New York City and is a lifetime member of the New York Press Photographers Association, where he served as President for two terms. He was the subject of the Daily News video and photo essay Charles Ruppmann: 50 Years/50 Photographs and has had major retrospectives at the Field Gallery (2012), the German Consulate in NYC and the Briarcliff Manor Library (2016).  Since 1980, he has resided in Peekskill, New York,  where he remains on the lookout for definitive moments of raw power and beauty.

For more information, please contact Alicia Morgan at amorgan@wlsmail.org.