Suz and Soon

SUZ, Central Park, New York City, 1978
Black and white photograph created with 120 film, 20” x 20”, Artist’s Collection

When I returned to New York in the late 1970s, I studied at the International Center for Photography. As an assignment, I teamed up with another student for a shoot in Central Park. Suz was my partner. When she wore the frowning mask, I noticed that her body became highly expressive. Looking at this image, I see two paradoxical expressions. Her mask seems to say: ‘Come closer.’ And then, ‘Move further away.’ As I listen, I recognize both requests as belonging to me.

SOON, New York City, 2023
Digital color print, 20” x 20”,
Artist’s Collection

I meet Soon for a photo shoot on the Lower East Side, a much grittier neighborhood than Central Park. Soon is attracted to the downtown culture, with its graffitied walls and lively alternative arts scene. As she poses in the frowning mask, she seems right at home alongside the decrepit stairs leading to a tenement building. She appears to be a schoolgirl, a waif who just cut class so that she could hang out on the street. Behind the mask and the costume, she’s a seasoned businesswoman who moonlights as a documentary filmmaker. Soon in mask reminds me of my early days as an actor hanging out in the even grittier East Village. Soon is the actor in the mask. As photographer, I’m outside the drama, looking in at the actor who wears the mask that is myself.