A look back at the incredible legacy of Arlene Gottfried
- Text by HUCK HQ
- Photography by Arlene Gottfried / Daniel Cooney Fine Art Gallery
Arlene Gottfried, the legendary American photographer famed for her street shots of New York’s under-represented communities, is being celebrated in a new exhibition at the city’s Daniel Cooney Fine Art Gallery.
The show, titled A Lifetime of Wandering, aims to pay tribute to Gottfried, who passed away at the age of 66 last August. It will include a varied selection of her black and white, colour and Polaroid photographs, all taken between the ’70s and ’90s.
A New York native, Gottfried grew up above a hardware store in Coney Island, before moving to Crown Heights at the age of nine. She became fascinated by the neighbourhood’s dominant Puerto Rican community, and – after being given an old camera by her father – began to take pictures in a bid to better understand the vibrant local culture. This eventually led to her taking a place at the Fashion Institute of Technology to study photography (where she was, at the time, the only woman in her class).
“My mother used to say ‘Arlene – don’t just wander!’” she told TIME magazine in 2011. “Then I started wandering, but I got a camera because it gave it a little more meaning… A life of wandering is really what it all it is.”
The photographer’s wanderings led her to shoot for The New York Times, Life, Newsweek and TIME. But it was her ability to empathise and identify with people from all walks of life that gave her an edge over her contemporaries, as well as her voracious curiosity to find out more about her hometown’s diverse communities.
“I think I wander around and I see things that just speak to me, in one way or another,” she added. “There are things that you try to say something about, or a moment you want to hold.”
Angel and Woman on Boardwalk in Brighton Beach, 1976
Guy With Radio, East 7th Street, 1977
Three Musicians, c. 1980’s
Couple, East Side Park, c. late 1970’s
Purim, c.1970’s
Men’s Room at Disco, 1978
Isabel Croft Jumping Rope, Brooklyn, 1972
Communion, c. early 1980’s
Rikers Island Olympics, 1987
Arlene Gottfried’s A Lifetime Of Wandering is on show at New York’s Daniel Cooney Gallery until April 28.
Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
You might like
The last days of St Agnes Place, London’s longest ever running squat
Off the grid — Photographer Janine Wiedel spent four years documenting the people of the Kennington squat, who for decades made a forgotten row of terraced houses a home.
Written by: Isaac Muk
How Japan revolutionised art & photography in the ’60s and ’70s
From Angura to Provoke — A new photobook chronicles the radical avant-garde scene of the postwar period, whose subversion of the medium of image making remains shocking and groundbreaking to this day.
Written by: Miss Rosen
Artifaxing: “We’ve become so addicted to these supercomputers in our hands”
Framing the future — Predominantly publishing on Instagram and X, the account is one of social media’s most prominent archiving pages. We caught up with the mysterious figure behind it to chat about the internet’s past, present and future, finding inspiration and art in the age of AI.
Written by: Isaac Muk
The lacerating catharsis of body suspension in Hong Kong
Self-Ferrying — In one of the world’s most densely packed cities, an underground group of young people are piercing their skin and hanging their bodies with hooks in a shocking exploration of pain and pleasure. Sophie Liu goes to a session to understand why they partake in the extreme underground practice.
Written by: Sophie Liu
What we’re excited for at SXSW 2026
Austin 40 — For the festival’s 40th anniversary edition, we are heading to Texas to join one of the biggest global meetups of the year. We’ve selected a few things to highlight on your schedules.
Written by: Huck
Wu-Tang Clan forever, and ever
The Final Chamber — RZA, the spiritual leader of one of the most important hip hop groups of all time explains why they won’t rest until their legacy is secured.
Written by: Yoh Phillips
