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Oct. 18: Week in Photography
Your lens to the internet's most powerful photographs. 📸 MOST POWERFUL PHOTO OF THE WEEK 📸 Erin Schaff / Getty Images The confirmation hearing of Amy Coney Barrett stands in stark contrast to the Brett Kavanuagh hearing two years ago, both in tone and substance. While the Kavanaugh hearing felt very much like a trial, the Barrett hearing felt like a soapbox — mostly for the questioners. Barrett, a conservative judge and law professor, refused to give specific answers on a range of questions, citing Ruth Bader Ginsburg's confirmation as a precedent for withholding. (This has been common practice in other confirmation hearings as well.)
Her relative inscrutability has left both sides frustrated, and senators instead used their time to make speeches about causes they believe in. This frame, by photographer Erin Schaff, captures the sense that Barrett is a silent observer of the law.
📸For Your 👀 Only: HOW WIRES ARE COVERING THE WHITE HOUSE NOW Noted BuzzFeed News alum Gabriel Sanchez has a new book out! In the Limelight: The Visual Ecstasy of NYC Nightlife in the 90s looks back at the career of Steve Eichner, who covered the club scene in New York in the ’90s. We spoke with Gabriel and Steve and got a sneak peek at how the book came together.
How did you first start working together?
Gabriel Sanchez: We actually met back in 2017 while I was an editor at BuzzFeed. I was working on a photo essay about the ’90s club scene that was based on my love of nostalgia, music, and art of the 1990s. So I set out looking for pictures of nightlife during the era and began to take notice of Steve’s incredible work. I just knew I had to interview him for the story. Steve Eichner Steve and I really hit it off during that interview and realized we shared a lot of the same interests — music, photography, even skateboarding. He let me know that he had always dreamed of making a book of his work — and after a few more conversations, I partnered up with him to make it a reality. Of course, it took many years for that to happen. But the entire process has been rewarding in that I’ve walked away with not only a beautiful book that we can both be proud of, but also a lifelong friend.
Is there a particular audience you had in mind when putting together this book?
GS: I think part of the beauty of this book is that these images really do transcend audiences. This is something that we’ve especially taken note of in the response to the book so far; there are people from all walks of life and interests who find something they can relate to in these pictures, which in some ways is a testament to the wide range of people who found comfort and pleasure in these clubs and who are now pictured in the book.
The book exists at a generational cross section: There’s an older generation who experienced clubs like these firsthand, and they look at these pictures as an incredible walk down memory lane. Then there’s a younger generation who looks at these images as aspirational, vibing on the fashion, music, art, and freedom of the era.
Steve Eichner Were there any surprises when you were going through the archive? SE: Yes, there were a lot of surprises. The first surprise was how vast my archive is. Hundreds of thousands of slides and negatives. I was literally shooting 24/7 in the 1990s, and not just clubs; I was also documenting the music scene and doing some fashion photography. I had not looked at some of these photographs for 20 to 25 years, so there were surprises constantly. Lots of parties and events I did not even remember attending. After all that time, it all blends into one long, crazy night. Another thing is how powerful these pictures are and how different NY nightlife was then compared to what it became in the 2000s. Lastly, I was surprised that the majority of the photos were in focus and properly exposed. I was working in dark, difficult conditions with manual focus cameras.
How has your connection to this work changed from the ’90s to now? Steve Eichner: In the 1990s, I was out shooting every night and I never had time to look back. My actual job as house photographer for Peter Gatien was to photograph celebrities and get those into newspapers to promote the clubs. The majority of the book is comprised of photographs I shot for myself — my creative outlet, if you will — and something told me I had to document all of this and it would not last forever. So in the 1990s these were slides that I had in files but were paying the bills. In fact, as a young struggling photographer, shooting and storing all those extra photographs properly was a financial burden. Once Gabriel and I got a book deal and started looking through those old files, I realized how rare these artifacts are. This was before digital, before cameras were ubiquitous, and I had such amazing exclusive access. I was accepted into the tribe, and the photos feel intimate. Every time we put a page of slides on the light table, the colors popped and the subject matter is so compelling and there is so much history. It made me so happy and proud. Steve Eichner 📸THE WEEK'S PHOTO STORIES FROM BUZZFEED NEWS 📸 This week, to be honest I've been head down in election planning. It's a lot to take in, and we have some other good changes on the way. In the meantime, check out what small business workers think about America, and it's worth taking a peek at Magnum's print sale. SAM COMEN EXPLORES WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A WORKING AMERICAN Sam Comen SEE THE FULL STORY
A PRINT SALE TO GET OUT THE VOTE Dawoud Bey SEE THE FULL STORY
📸SOME HOPE 📸 Siegfried Modola / Getty Images This good dog is learning how to detect the coronavirus by scent. "That's it from us this time — see you next week!" —Kate “We are making photographs to understand what our lives mean to us.”— Ralph Hattersley Want More? Go To JPG Homepage
📝 This letter was edited and brought to you by the News Photo team. Kate Bubacz is the photo director based in New York and loves dogs. You can always reach us here.
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