New City Gallery Exhibit Bears Witness to the Effects of Globalization

[Jen Payne]

In the 1970s, globalization began. Factories and mills, the economic engines for many American cities and towns, soon went into decline. ECHOES OF SILENCE, a photography exhibit by Tom Peterson, chronicles the final stages of this downturn. His work will be on view at City Gallery from June 3 - June 26, with an Opening Reception on Saturday, June 11 from 2 p.m. - 5 p.m.
 
Each of the images in the show represent the ghostly remnants of a not-so-distant yet seemingly irrevocable past. “Most of the photographs were taken in deteriorating sections of Connecticut cities where manufacturing had been prominent, like River Street in New Haven, and also Waterbury, Ansonia, Bridgeport, Meriden, and New Britain,” explains Peterson.
 
“Manufacturing began going out of business in the early seventies. Good paying jobs disappeared. The neighborhoods around the factories deteriorated, leaving empty shells of factories buildings…and neighborhoods. This all represented to me the disappearing of much of the middle class, and how we got to be such a divided country.”
 
Peterson is a documentary and abstract fine arts photographer from Hamden, Connecticut. His work features documentation of urban Connecticut and New York City, while also exploring and creating abstract architectural images of intense color. He has received numerous awards, including twice winning First Honors at Shoreline Arts Alliance. Tom has been a member of City Gallery since 2009.
 
ECHOES OF SILENCE is free and open to the public, and runs June 3 - June 26, 2022. City Gallery is located at 994 State Street, New Haven, CT 06511. Gallery hours are Friday - Sunday, 1 p.m. - 4 p.m., or by appointment (203-248-3175). City Gallery follows New Haven City’s mask mandate policy. For further information please contact City Gallery, [e-mail], www.city-gallery.org.