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Photos: 1990s NYC, From Mohawks To Smashed Up Cabs
By
Jen Carlson
Published Apr 4, 2014
Modified Apr 4, 2014
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Photo by Gregoire Alessandrini
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Apr 4, 2014
Modified Apr 4, 2014
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For a while now Gregoire Alessandrini has been sharing photos from his personal archives, all of which were taken during the 1990s while he was a film student in New York City. His latest collection features street shots from Harlem to Astor Place to St. Marks Place, and make the 1990s seem so far in our past. Click through for trip back to that time... when Williamsburg was filled with artists, we were just getting to know Chloe Sevigny, and actor Justin Kirk was in a power pop band.
Alessandrini told us over email this week:
"I was born in 1968 in Paris, France. Growing up with parents working as rock critics in the 70’s. I was in contact with both worlds of music and movies at a very early age. I wish I could remember Blondie, The Rolling Stones or David Bowie’s concerts seen from the top of my dad’s shoulders!
As a pure bread Parisian, New York City had always seemed an obvious destination for me. A place I felt I already knew through a personal exploration of American movies, rock vinyls, art and photography books.
I finally had the chance to go to NY to become a film student and I started exploring the city from one end to another…always carrying my old Nikons with me. 'New York, just like I pictured it!' was a perfect sounding line when I discovered Manhattan for the first time in the late 80’s. Just what I had imagined…and so much more! And the year I was supposed to spend in NY finally turned into 8 amazing years!
I guess I had the intuition of being the witness of a vanishing world. Here and there, one could see the remains of a golden era, of a certain idea of New York. A mythical time, where one could stumble into Basquiat, Patti Smith or Debbie Harry at the corner deli.
The city had obviously tremendously changed since the 70’s and 80’s. Last September, I was shocked to see how much the Lower East Side (the “bad boys playground” at the time) had changed. In late 2012, I remember being dropped off by a yellow cab on Bowery and looking for... Bowery!"
His photos were taken between 1991 and 1998, and he's been scanning his old negatives and colored slides—kept in an old suitcase for almost 20 years—for his site. You can check out his archives here. [via EV Grieve]
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1990s
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Gregoire Alessandrini
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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