Strange characters of New York in the lens of Arlene Gottfried from the 1970s to the present day

A butcher's assistant with a sinister grin, a visitor to the famous Studio 54 nightclub in a striped suit, a naked bodybuilder next to a Hasidic Jew are just a few of the fascinating and strange pictures of American photographer Arlene Gottfried taken in New York and the surrounding area from 1970 to 2006.

Twenty-five photos of Gottfried were included in the exhibition of the Hardhitta Gallery in Los Angeles, and also published online to give an idea of everyday life in New York through the lens of the photographer's lens.

(20 photos in total)

Source: Daily Mail

Arlene Gottfried is the sister of comedian Gilbert Gottfried. She took her first steps in photography at the legendary Woodstock Festival in 1969 with the help of a camera donated by her father. But it turned out that she didn't need music festivals to find bright characters for her pictures. Arlene photographed the amazing right next to the house in Crown Heights.

Gottfried started with photos of her family, but soon became interested in what was happening on the streets of New York. In the 1970s and 1980s, she documented what was happening everywhere, from the idle atmosphere of Coney Island to the life of Puerto Rican neighborhoods on the Lower East Side. It was there that she made one of her most famous shots — a procession of girls in white dresses who are heading to their first communion.

Arlene Gottfried became a professional photojournalist, and her work has been published in publications such as The New York Times Magazine, LIFE and The Independent. Her photographs captured the most important thing that will not be written about in history textbooks — the pulse of life in a city that never sleeps.