New York, People, Life

Clemens Kalischer is nearing the end of his ninth decade. This quiet, unassuming gentleman has photographed a broad range of subjects — agriculture, the urban scene, architecture, music — for newspapers and magazines including Time and The New York Times. Kalischer founded the Image Gallery in Stockbridge, MA, where for more than 30 years he presented work by Alice Neel, Michael Mazur, Gunther Grass (yes, he created art as well as books) and others.

    Now, Joie de Livres Gallery at Salisbury Wines is presenting a lovely show of 21 early Kalischer images, mostly of New York City 60 years ago.  (There are also telling images of Pablo Casals, Frank Lloyd Wright and especially Merce Cunningham.)

    Joie de Livres’ Meredith McGregor worked with Kalischer and his image assistant to select beautiful, often emotional images of ordinary people in the metropolis. Perhaps the most moving  are “Displaced Persons,â€� three shots showing a middle-aged couple arriving in New York Harbor and their new home just as Kalischer and his family must have done when they escaped from France in  1942; two girls arriving in New York oblivious to the changed world they are entering; and a couple reunited in their new country. All are from Ellis Island in 1948.

    Kalischer is a master of form, light and shadow.  Many photographs in the show are painterly in their geometry and focus: The main figures stand out clearly against hazier but recognizable surroundings. As a developer he emphasizes the main figures in his stories but never ignores the power of supporting characters and location.

    Among the pictures I especially liked are a very formal, perhaps posed — though I think not — shot of a well-dressed woman sitting on her suitcase in Penn Station (1949). All the drama of mid-century travel is summed up in this cool composition. Then there is a wonderful picture of a man in a newsboy cap reading a paper, also in Penn Station.  One wonders what he is reading so intently and why he’s in the station, since he doesn’t look like a traveller.

   “New Jersey Ferry,â€� which McGregor chose for her invitations to the show, is a clear statement of Kalischer’s love of geometric shapes. The semi circles, straight and diagonal lines of the receiving dock are richly developed while the approaching ferry is almost misty.  “Two Ladiesâ€� (1949) could almost be an ironic comment on Weegee’s famous, frightening photograph of two rouged society matrons arriving at the Metropolitan Opera in full dress (1943).  

   Anyone who has lived or spent much time in New York City will feel nostalgia looking at the old Fulton Fish Market or a winding elevated train or Coney Island as it was before development and the Russian diaspora.  Kalischer saw the city as a new American and as a New Yorker. His European vision informs this show.

     “New York — Yesterday,â€� photographs by Clemens Kalischer, opens Nov. 28, and runs through the end of the year at Salisbury Wines, 19 Main St., Salisbury. Hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Saturday, 860-435-1414.