André D. Wagner, a whole world called New York — Blind Magazine

In 1972, jazz legend Roy Ayers released “We Live in Brooklyn, Baby,” a hypnotic anthem dedicated to the people struggling to survive in Kings County (home to Brooklyn). Half a century later, photographer and 2022 Gordon Parks Foundation Fellow, Andre D. Wagner, revisited a decade of his work for the exhibition, “ New City, Old Blues ».

Originally from Omaha (Nebraska), Wagner arrived in New York in 2012 and settled in Bushwick (Brooklyn). Ten years later, the area has changed a lot, the residents of the neighborhood have had to move, under the relentless pressure of gentrification. A community garden was razed to build an apartment building. In the space of ten years, everything has changed.

For Wagner, the transition from social work to street photography is “ a great development “. Naturally, the device becomes a compass for him to move through the world, recording fleeting moments of intimacy, the isolation of some, the connection between others.

« I never imagined that the inspiration for my work would come from the neighborhood I lived in, but at the same time, being from the Midwest and feeling at home in a community, it makes sense. I have always been a sociable person “, explains Wagner, who considers that the basic principles of respect, empathy and understanding with others are at the heart of his work.

After years of work, the series New City, Old Blues is at the a love letter to the people of New York and the art of photography. Like the great black photographers of Kamoinge, notably Roy DeCarava, Ming Smith, Anthony Barboza, and Adger Cowans, Andre Wagner is driven by a passion for the street, this playground like no other.

The third eye

Andre Wagner remembers reading Voices in the Mirror : An Autobiography by Gordon Parks. Photography then becomes obvious. “ It gave me the confidence to tell myself that I could have this lifestyle “, he confides.

Ten years later, Wagner came full circle at the Gordon Parks Foundation gala, as the recipient of the scholarship, received a few blocks from the residence hall where he had read the book. “ I don’t really feel like I chose photography, I feel like it chose me », admits Wagner about his journey.

« I realized that the expression on a face tells a whole world. Everyone has something they can leverage, and our experiences shape the way we see the world. I am a street photographer, all these worlds meet there “, explains Wagner. “ I’m from Omaha, grew up in the black community, went to Iowa to play on the all-white basketball team at an all-white school; then in the same city, I was a social worker, I was employed by juvenile courts to deal with at-risk youth. Being in all these different spaces has given me this empathy that I feel in my body. I was an athlete growing up, and street photography unlocked that physicality. It combines, in fact, the best aspects of my life. »

A star is born

Like a blog from the 2010s, Andre Wagner posted for several weeks on Twitter the process of printing the photographs in his series New City, Old Blues thus giving access to the backstage of his darkroom. “ It is important for me to work with my hands. It’s very intuitive and natural “, explains Wagner. “ The images themselves ended up being large self-portraits, both literally and figuratively. When you point your lens at someone else, or something else, it says so much about yourself. »

Wagner thus creates a space for sharing with his community. Community that we found at the opening of the exhibition at the Gordon Parks Foundation Gallery, where nearly 300 people traveled to Pleasantville, New York, to attend. “ We felt incredible energy, there were a lot of photographers and people“lovers of my photographs,” greets Wagner. “ It was truly extraordinary to see a community build around my work. »

The exhibition Andre D. Wagner : New City, Old Blues was presented at the Gordon Parks Foundation Gallery in Pleasantville, New York.