Daniella Zalcman's photographic tale of two cities
Vanity Fair contributor's new work is a love letter to New York and London - shot and edited entirely on her iPhone
Back in the analogue era the multiple exposure was often a budding photographer’s first step towards forging an artistic style. Former architecture student and successful freelance photographer Daniella Zalcman however has turned the form into a love letter of sorts to two beautiful cities – both of which are close to Phaidon’s heart.
Zalcman, who works as a photographer for The Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair, The New York Times and Sports Illustrated and whose photographs grace the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, says she created her latest series New York + London to map the intersections between two sets of streets and skylines. The series explores place, memory, and identity through architecture (and a healthy sprinkling of nostalgia).
So Brooklyn Bridge Park becomes Leicester Square, Whitehall meets the South Bronx and the High Line runs above Knightsbridge. Zalcman, who's documented American presidential campaigns, Ugandan human rights abuses as well as sharp-elbowed Fashion Weeks says London + New York is "probably one of the most personal projects I've ever worked on. It really captures how I feel about both cities," and hopes “that in the noise and silence, everyone will find something that feels like home."
Interestingly, they were all shot and edited entirely on her iPhone. "I get a lot of flak from parts of the photojournalism community for using what a lot consider to be substandard technology, but there's another camp that believes that the best camera is the one you with you," she says. "Now that smartphones with fairly advanced cameras are commonplace, photography has been democratized in many ways. Also, sometimes I just don't want to lug around all of my gear!" You can learn more about London + New York at her site.
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