42nd Street and Eighth Avenue, from the Times Square portfolio published May 18, 1997

Acclaimed Swedish photographer Lars Tunbjörk brings the clarity of foreign eyes to the once-gritty corner of Eighth Avenue and 42nd Street in New York, discovering its Hopper-esque morning stillness and its abstract shapes. Aperture Foundation is pleased to release this limited-edition photograph, as featured in The New York Times Magazine Photographs (Aperture, 2011). This image originally appeared in the Times on May 18, 1997, in a portfolio focusing on Times Square. The editor, Kathy Ryan, assembled a roster of photographers, each of whom would bring a very different eye and sensibility to the story. Tunbjörk reflects on his image: “Forty-second Street at the time was a strange place, with all the abandoned cinemas and porno palaces—like a big empty theater set. I took this picture on a sunny Sunday. I love sunny Sundays in New York; the air is clean, and the light is so crisp and hard. I thought of the paintings of Piet Mondrian when I saw these buildings and the strong colors"

C-Print
Image Size: 10 x 12 inches
Paper Size: 11 x 14 inches
Edition of 25 + 3 Artist Proofs
Signed and numbered by the artist

Lars Tunbjörk (b. 1956, Borås, Sweden; d. 2015, Stockholm, Sweden) spent the 1970s photographing for several national newspapers and publications in his native country. He has exhibited widely in Sweden, including a solo show at the Moderna Museet. Additionally, Tunbjörk has had solo and group shows across Europe and the United States, including at the International Center of Photography in New York. His work is in many private and public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York; the Centre Pompidou and the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris; the Museet for Fotokunst in Denmark and the Fotomuseet in Norway. His work is represented by Gallery Vu in Paris.