Bright Nights: Photographs of Another New York

In this photography collection the subtitle is quite apt: Photographs of Another New York. These are not the usual city photos with buildings, landscapes, parks and people. These photos really show the downside of the city, the drunks, those high on drugs, dead rats, a dead cat partly mauled by other hungry creatures, fallen down buildings, frenzied people on rock concerts, and so on. Nothing is sacred in photographer Tod Seelie’s Bright Nights: none of the parts of the naked human bod, male or female, or any action usually secluded to private surroundings. There are a few good photos but most have little if any artistic or photographic merit. This landscape format trade paperback is not likely to be on anyone’s coffee table, and certainly not with young children around. The photographs are without captions, thus the reader has no idea what Seelie is presenting you until the end of the book where the complete list of captions appears. The book is arbitrarily divided into ten chapters, each introduced by a one- or two-page writing written by friends or fellow artist who talks about themselves or about Seelie.