About

Between 1964 and 1965, Duane Michals explored the transitional early morning moments in New York City, including landmarks such as Penn Station, the Metropolitan Opera House, and the Washington Square Hotel as well as ordinary locales, such as a laundromat, a shoeshine station, and an empty booth in a neighborhood diner. The Empty New York images reflect Michals’ admiration for the work of French photographer Eugene Atget who memorably photographed the streets of Paris. As Michals has said,

“It was a fortuitous event for me [to discover the work of Eugene Atget in a book]. I became so …