Photographer William Frucht Invites You to Imagine LAST SUMMER at City Gallery

[Jen Payne]

Photographer William Frucht’s show LAST SUMMER uses street photography and landscapes to illustrate our collective hopes and disappointments during the Summer of 2021. This collection of work is on view at City Gallery from November 4 - November 28, with a reception Saturday, November 13 from 1pm - 4pm.

“By the summer of 2021, we thought sheltering in place would be behind us,” says Frucht. “After more than a year, I thought we would escape our self-imposed net and fly free, and the summer would be one long party. It turned out to be only briefly and partially true.”

LAST SUMMER captures that brief and partial escape in two distinct sets of images:

• Street Photography. This work occupies a border between street photography and street portraiture, focusing on light, color, emotion and story. “Many, not all, of the images are collaborative. In some instances I specifically asked my subjects not to pose or make faces for the camera but instead let them reveal themselves however they wished. Other times I simply photographed the scene as I encountered it,” explains Frucht.
• Landscapes (12th Avenue). These images were all taken within a small slice of upper Manhattan, 12th Avenue between about 125th Street and 135th, on repeated visits at the same time of day — between 6 and 7 in the evening. “It’s a place most people outside the neighborhood never see, but where the chance interaction of topography and highway development have created a light-filled space of almost cathedral-like grandeur.”

William Frucht, a photographer and a member of City Gallery since 2016, has had his work exhibited in many venues in Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania. He has also co-curated two exhibits of work by the Tibetan photographer Tsering Dorje, at City Gallery in 2019 and at Wesleyan University’s Zilkha Gallery in 2020. You can see more of his work at the web site williamfrucht.com, or contact him at [e-mail].

LAST SUMMER is free and open to the public, and runs November 4 - November 28, with a Reception on Saturday, November 13 from 1pm - 4pm. City Gallery is located at 994 State Street, New Haven, CT 06511. Modified gallery hours are Friday - Sunday, 1pm - 4 pm, or by appointment. During regular hours, visitors are required to wear a mask and observe social distancing protocols. For the reception, proof of vaccination will be required for entry, and masks will be optional. For further information please contact City Gallery, [e-mail], www.city-gallery.org.