New York – der entfesselte William Klein

Klein’s photos show New York unvarnished, as a place of racism, poverty, aggression and as a place where the rich have a very good time in public. Klein himself did not pass judgement, but the photography itself certainly did. His style is direct, with strong contrasts, blurred contours and motion blur – uncompromising, risk-taking and away from common conventions. This puts him in complete contrast to the technically perfect, aesthetically orientated photography of the 1950s. His reckless and brash image design was a very deliberate shattering of all conventions of ‘good photography’.
No publisher in the USA wanted to print this unvarnished view of America. The book was finally and only printed in Europe, first in France, then in Italy and England. It won the French photo book prize Prix Nadar and it feels like every American photographer had (and still has) a copy at home. Today it is considered one of the most influential photo books.
The exhibition at the Photobastei in Zurich shows a selection of 130 images from the book New York 1954.55. Life is Good and Good for You is New York: Trance Witness Revels from 12 September to 3 November.