Young Dancer, 34th and 5th Ave., New York City 1978

Editor: Here we have Joel Meyerowitz's "Young Dancer, 34th and 5th Ave., New York City," a c-print from 1978. It feels incredibly nostalgic, like stepping back into a very specific, almost cinematic moment. What captures your attention when you look at it? Curator: Oh, nostalgia is definitely the word. For me, it’s the layering of time – the dancer herself, so seemingly out of place against that hyper-real New York backdrop with its blatant, bold color, and then the ghostly echo of the Empire State Building in the distance. Does she see it too? I wonder... Does she even *care*? That building looming behind her and that shop front symbol up above. There’s something deeply symbolic at play. And slightly unsettling. Editor: Unsettling? I felt a warmth to it. Maybe it’s the colors. Curator: The colors *do* draw you in, don’t they? Almost lures you, like a siren’s song... or a cleverly worded advertisement! I keep coming back to that symbol up there above the shop. It seems so intentionally placed. Did Meyerowitz stage the shot, or was he quick enough to see her under this slightly awkward, brash juxtaposition. Maybe the artist felt some discordance, perhaps that’s what’s made me uneasy, perhaps it's intended.. The art critic, Ingrid Sischy, described Meyerowitz’s images as “…seeing is feeling is thinking." Don't you think that chimes well here? Editor: I hadn't considered the unsettling aspects before, but I see what you mean, how all those elements combine. That Meyerowitz's vision has layers, to borrow your word. Curator: Absolutely, and isn’t that what makes art so captivating? You begin with something comfortable – this dancer – then things become complicated and evermore rich... almost uneasy? Editor: For sure. I'm definitely looking at this in a whole new light now. Thank you.