The Chaos of 1970s New York

Meryl Meisler’s Photos of 1970s New York

South Bronx-born, but raised in Long Island, Meryl Meisler returned to New York City in 1975 and fell in love with the place. Known for her intimate and evocative photography of New York’s late-night pavements and clubs, Meisler’s immersive work captures an America unlike today. In recent years, the renowned snapper has released a string of photo books from her early days: A Tale of Two Cities: Disco Era Bushwick (2014), Paradise & Purgatory: SASSY ’70s Suburbia & The City (2015), and New York PARADISE LOST Bushwick Era Disco (2021).

Her latest limited edition book, Street Walker, features vivid images of NYC and other US cities taken in the 70s and 80s.

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Feel It Tonight

VICE: Is it strange to keep revisiting your youth through these shots?
Meryl Meisler: I didn’t really look at the photographs seriously before doing the books. This time, I looked through and discovered things I never even peeked at before. It’s like New York City: You sit on the subway, you could see someone reading the Bible, the Torah, whatever, and they’re reading it again and again and again, and they’re finding new meanings. I feel like I’m looking at my work and finding new meanings. I have barely touched upon my archival work from ‘73 till now.

New York City was very different back in the 70s and 80s, right?
The New York City I moved to was a very exciting time. I still find excitement here, but I didn’t know it was a radical excitement—like in England, things originated, punk, this and that… In New York City, the disco scene flew out of it. It was a change in music and culture and acceptance of people who weren’t exactly living the mainstream life—but could have a life. It was a good time; a good time for me.

Does anything specific about New York’s built environment lend itself to photography?
New York City is a treasure trove. As soon as I moved here in 1975, I realized, ‘Oh, this is where I belong.’ It’s an invigorating place. It’s got energy. Visually it’s very stimulating because some things are so familiar—you’ve seen them in movies, stories, and everything else—and then you’re always discovering something new. There’s so much there.

Do you still know many of the people pictured in these photographs?
All my family, friends, and friends’ friends and photographs of people in my neighborhood, yes, I know them. But people have also reached out to me who’ve found themselves in the pictures. Former students who have found themselves in my Bushwick pictures. Strangers have found themselves, and what’s very nice is, everybody always likes the picture; nobody’s angry with it. I captured their joy. I think that’s something I didn’t understand while photographing, but I tend to want to photograph people in places expressing joy and confidence and laughter. Even those who grew up in rough neighborhoods like Bushwick, you also saw the beauty.