In a captivating new exhibition and book, celebrated American photographer Gregory Halpern takes us on an intimate journey through the quiet resilience and strange beauty of his hometown, Buffalo, New York. Over the course of two decades, Halpern has documented the city’s transformation from a once-thriving industrial powerhouse to a place of abandoned factories, unexpected wildlife encounters, and the enduring spirit of its inhabitants.
A City of Steel and Snow
Buffalo, situated on the shores of Lake Erie, was once home to the world’s largest steel mill. Though the city no longer produces steel, it remains a major hub for recycling parts from broken-down cars. Halpern’s photographs capture the stark contrast between the city’s industrial past and its present state, with sprawling, snow-covered streets devoid of human activity.
I often like to go out and shoot in snowstorms. People stay indoors. The city gets incredibly quiet. The snow muffles sounds and even cars driving down the street seem silent.
– Gregory Halpern
In one striking image, a solitary figure, Collette, is seen collecting flowers in front of a massive factory. The juxtaposition of nature and industry serves as a potent metaphor for the city’s struggle to redefine itself in the face of economic upheaval.
The Celebrity Deer
One of the most captivating characters in Halpern’s photographs is April, a white deer that has become a local celebrity in Buffalo’s Old First Ward neighborhood. According to a close source, spotting April and posting about her on social media has become a beloved pastime for residents.
April felt like a perfect, surreal, ghost-like recurring character. She’s a celebrity in the neighbourhood, so it would be like a thing if you spotted April, and posted on social media. I don’t know if I can articulate exactly what she means to me, but she’s pretty special.
– Gregory Halpern
The presence of April in Halpern’s photographs adds an element of magic and surprise to the urban landscape, a reminder that nature can thrive even in the most unlikely places.
A City in Transition
Buffalo has witnessed significant loss over the years, with the migration of industry and half its population. However, Halpern’s photographs reveal a quiet resilience and a strange sense of beauty that persists in the city’s abandoned sites and urban landscape.
At times the city feels outsized for its inhabitants: open spaces appear unvisited; a large factory looms over a solitary figure picking flowers in a meadow; snow-covered streets are left unwalked.
– Exhibition description
Through his lens, Halpern reimagines these spaces, finding a delicate balance between entropy and renewal. His photographs probe the slippages between decay and regeneration, discerning an inherent hopefulness in our ability to adapt and rebuild.
Capturing the Surreal
Halpern’s photographs often venture into the realm of the surreal, emphasizing the strangeness of fleeting vignettes and ordinary moments. In one image, the word “until” is painted in bright yellow on a set of steps leading somewhere out of view, a cryptic message that invites the viewer to ponder its meaning.
Another photograph shows a man named Austin, leaning on crutches against a stark white background. The image is both a portrait and an enigma, leaving the viewer to wonder about the story behind the man’s circumstances.
A Poetic Ode to Home
In the end, Gregory Halpern’s King, Queen, Knave is a deeply personal and poetic ode to his hometown. Through his photographs, he invites us to see Buffalo through his eyes, to appreciate the beauty and resilience that can be found in even the most challenging of circumstances.
The book is full of metaphors. Metaphors of death, but also metaphors of rebirth, and the life-cycle itself. Death is traditionally represented by downward movement. Its reversal is represented through floating, or flying.
– Gregory Halpern
As we journey through the pages of Halpern’s book or the walls of his exhibition, we are reminded of the cyclical nature of life, the constant ebb and flow of loss and renewal. In capturing the quiet beauty of his hometown, Halpern has created a testament to the enduring spirit of a place and its people, a visual poem that resonates long after the final image fades from view.
The exhibition King, Queen, Knave is on display at the Huxley-Parlour gallery in London until November 30, 2023. The accompanying book, published by MACK, is available for purchase online and in select bookstores.
