One-Week: Jill Freedman Show at SohoPhoto

Soho Photo Gallery is hosting a special gallery-wide memorial exhibition in honor of legendary documentary and street photographer Jill Freedman (1939 - 2019) who helped establish the gallery in 1971 when a group of New York Times photographers sought a venue to exhibit their personal work. Freedman had solo shows at the original gallery space on Prince Street in 1972 and 1974; she went on to receive numerous photojournalism assignments, exhibit in major galleries and museums, publish seven books, and win many prestigious awards and honors over the course of her 40-year career.

     I sadly never met Jill Freedman in person but of course I was familiar with Jill's work, her pure New Yorker-ness, how she nailed humanity in her photos. We show here for one week just a sampling of the great bodies of work that Jill has left for us to appreciate. Included are images from Resurrection City, a body of work that became the book Old News: Resurrection City (1971). For six weeks, Jill lived among the Poor People's Campaign protesters in a makeshift town that was dubbed "Resurrection City," developing an intimacy that is evident in this captivating body of work. 

     Jill was also well known for her photos of and relationships with the New York City Police and Fire Departments, a few examples of which are in this exhibition.