Jean-Andre Antoine
From Prince St. with Love
Rather than roaming the city looking for scenes to capture candidly, street photographer Jean-Andre Antoine returns to his "office," the same bustling corner of Prince and Broadway in SoHo several days a week and waits for his subjects to approach him, occasionally asking “the originals” (his term for distinct New Yorkers), for a portrait. In this installation, you will see New Yorkers of all kinds: writers, street artists, musicians, models, filmmakers, and many unnamed, of various ages and backgrounds captured on Antoine’s 1947 Crown Graphic camera. He leans into the rarity of both his subjects and materials, capturing special, fleeting moments on Prince Street.
About the Installation
While most of the time Antoine makes portraits for his subjects to take home with them, the over 50 original polaroids on view in this installation have been selected from his personal archive.
Antoine’s 1947 Crown Graphic camera uses an instant film that has long been discontinued, so along with the brevity of these chance encounters, there is a rarity to the materials he uses. The artist sources this film from around the world and continues his practice with the understanding that the amount of this usable film in existence is decreasing with each photograph he takes. Because the film is expired, it often comes with built-in distortions that add another layer of unpredictability and irreproducibility to the images that he takes. The unpredictability of the film, chaos of the city streets, and the uniqueness of each subject combine in an instant to make each singular photograph.
While society is in the crux of a digital revolution, I try achieving a sense of timelessness by framing contemporary subjects in the gaze of my classic camera.
About the Artist
Born in 1983 in Harlem, Jean-Andre Antoine is a New York City-based analog street photographer, renowned for his distinctive approach to capturing timeless portraits on vintage peel-apart film. Stationed daily on the bustling corner of Prince and Broadway in SoHo, he skillfully crafts images of passersby, showcasing an unparalleled ability to seize the moment and capture extraordinary portraits in one shot. Antoine's artistry extends beyond the streets, as evidenced by his collaborations with commercial brands including Disney, Cartier, Nike and Tiffany & Co. In 2022, Antoine co-founded My Eye Got Lazy, a dynamic magazine dedicated to celebrating and advancing street photography culture.