Did a Meteor Strike Downtown New York? Photographer Jeff Mermelstein Captures teh “Anti-Moment”
NEW YORK, NY - A striking image by street photographer Jeff Mermelstein, recently featured alongside the release of his new book What if Jeff where a Butterfly, has sparked conversation about capturing the unexpected in urban life. While not a celestial event, the photograph-a blurred, colorful scene-embodies MermelsteinS interest with “anti-moments,” the fleeting, often overlooked instances that define the human experience.
Mermelstein, born in 1957 in New Brunswick, New Jersey, emphasizes the importance of both being present in the world and possessing a unique artistic vision.”Something has to be out there in the real world – but its the anti-moments I’m interested in,” he states. He further notes the challenge of colour photography, describing it as “an additional ball to juggle” compared to black and white, while remaining rooted in a desire for realism. His work,including his earlier series #nyc,has garnered significant recognition,culminating in the Museum of Modern Art in New York acquiring 21 prints from the series for its permanent collection in 2023.
Mermelstein’s approach extends beyond still photography; he has increasingly focused on video, driven by a desire to “contribute somehow to capturing the human condition in any given moment in time.” He credits his enduring passion for photography-spanning 50 years-to a belief that “all that matters is the work you create,” and encourages artists to “strive to put your singular self into that work and understand that rejection is meaningless.” What if Jeff Were a Butterfly, published by Void, showcases a diverse collection of his images, described as a “wild concoction” assembled in a “poetic and surprising” manner. He previously won the European Publishers award for Photography in 1999 for his work Sidewalk.
