A Hellertown photographer with a passion for telling the poignant stories of people living on the streets of New York City from behind his lens has mounted an exhibit of his work at the James A. Michener Art Museum in Doylestown.
Michael-2, 2014, archival pigment print, 16” x 24” printed on 22” x 30” Moab Entrada Rag Natural 300
“I see myself in every person I photograph and that carries through to everyone I have met while walking the streets with my camera,” said Ed Vatza in a news release about the exhibit. “I walk up to them, engage them and listen to their story.”
“I believe this feeling provides perspective for my whole body of work and in their stories, I strive to understand that thin line of fate that separates where they are from where I am,” he added.
The installation of Vatza’s work–which opens to the public Saturday–features 17 large-scale, black and white photographic portraits accompanied by printed stories.
It focuses on a segment of his Manhattan Project series, which “depicts the personalities and attitudes of street people in lower New York City neighborhoods,” the news release said.
“Visitors will be moved by the haunting photographs along with the captivating stories of each,” museum director/CEO and exhibit curator Lisa Tremper Hanover said.
Mac, 2014, archival pigment print, 16” x 24” printed on 22” x 30” Moab Entrada Rag Natural 300
“As the works in the show reveal, Ed captures the heart and soul of these individuals through the camera lens,” she noted.
Ed Vatza: Street Stories is presented by Vivian Banta and Robert Field.
The exhibit is on display in the museum’s Bette and Nelson Pfundt Gallery from Saturday through Sunday, July 5.
The James A. Michener Art Museum is located at 138 S. Pine St., Doylestown. For information about the museum’s hours and admission fees, click here.
For more information about Vatza and his work, visit his website, his blog and like his Facebook page.
All images below are copyright Ed Vatza Photography LLC 2014.
Lydia, 2014, archival pigment print, 20” x 30” printed on 26” x 36” Moab Entrada Rag Natural 300
Bean, 2013, archival pigment print, 20” x 30” printed on 26” x 36” Moab Entrada Rag Natural 300