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William Grabowski photographs

Call Number

PR 321

Date

1985-88, 2004-2022 (bulk, 2014-2021), inclusive

Creator

Grabowski, William, 1954-

Extent

14 Linear feet in 8 flat boxes

Language of Materials

The documents are photographic but to the extent there is text it is in English.

Abstract

The William Grabowski photographs consist of about 1,160 color prints of digital snapshots of New York City, primarily Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn, taken mostly between 2014 and 2021. Especially well-represented in the collection are images of graffiti art/murals in Bushwick, Brooklyn and at 5 Pointz in Long Island City, Queens; street performers, theater marquees, and other scenes from the Times Square/Theater District; winter holiday decorations and events such as the Holiday Train Show and the illuminated residences of Dyker Heights, Brooklyn; and a broad range of structures around the city, especially museums, corporate towers, bridges, parks, churches, etc., with some skyline views.

Biographical Note

William Grabowski (1954- ) was born in Rego Park, Queens and later moved to Suffolk County on Long Island. He studied art as an undergraduate at SUNY Stonybrook, and received an Master of Science degree in secondary education from Hofstra University, and an Master of Science degree in instructional technology from Long Island University at CW Post. An art teacher in public schools for nearly 40 years, Grabowski also involved himself with local and regional arts councils. His artwork encompasses a variety of media, including photography, collage, and painting.

Arrangement

The photographs are organized in seven series, representing New York City's five boroughs plus two series for photographs not related to any particular borough.

Series I. Manhattan (530 photographs)
Series II. Bronx (73 photographs)
Series III. Brooklyn (268 photographs)
Series IV. Queens (205 photographs)
Series V. Staten Island (13 photographs)
Series VI. Bridges, Tunnels & Ferries (57 photographs)
Series VII. Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island (18 photographs)

Within each series, the photographs are organized by general subject. The series and subject categorizations were established by the processing archivists to facilitate access to the hundreds of photographs. The photographer labeled all photographs with a file name based on the specific subject and (often) the year/month of the image.

Scope and Contents Note

The collection consists of about 1,160 color prints of digital snapshots of New York City. The prints are typically 19 inches x 13 inches. All five of the city's boroughs are represented in the photographs, especially Manhattan (530 photographs), Brooklyn (268), and Queens (205). The bulk of the photographs were taken from 2014-2021; two are from the 1980s and a few range from 2004-2012 and 2022. Each image was labeled with a title and date by the photographer.

One dominant emphasis of the photographs is New York's built environment. This is found in exterior views of a wide range of buildings and other structures: museums, Broadway theaters (especially marquees), sports stadiums (specifically, Yankee Stadium and the Mets' Citifield), bridges, corporate towers, airports (especially JFK), churches, and others. Several of these photographs have a skyline orientation, rather than a focus on a particular building. The photographs are generally of exteriors.

Many of the photographs are of particular unique, often transient, details found on these buildings. The marquees of theaters announcing the production showing at the time is one example. Another are the extensive sets of photographs of street art/murals found throughout the city. The murals of 5 Pointz in Queens (destroyed in 2013-14), at Bushwick Collective in Brooklyn, at Welling Court in Queens, and the Audubon Mural Project in Harlem are well-represented in the collection. There are photographs of the Christmas holiday decorations of residences in Brooklyn's Dyker Heights neighborhood. Sets of photographs taken at the 2017 and 2020 Holiday Train Show at the New York Botanical Garden provide close-ups of many of the replica miniatures of buildings shown at the event.

Although pedestrians and street life are not major subjects found throughout the collection, one exception to this is the Times Square area. There are many photographs that capture the flavor of the area, from street vendors to the character actors to the crowds to the surrounding buildings and large-scale signage. The Pride March of 2017, Women's March of 2017, street fairs in Queens, and other such events are also included to a limited extent. There are a small number of photographs of homeless or panhandling individuals.

Finally, parks and other places of relative quiet in the city appear, such as those of Central Park, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Pratt Institute's outdoor sculptures, Flushing Meadow Park, Roosevelt Island, and others.

Access Restrictions

For more information on making arrangements to consult the collection, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit

Use Restrictions

Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff.

Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.

Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions

Preferred Citation Note

This collection should be cited as: William Grabowski Photographs, PR 321, Department of Prints, Photographs and Architectural Collections, New-York Historical Society.

Immediate Source of Acquisition Note

Gift of William Grabowski, 2012 (28 photographs), 2014-2016 (319 photographs), 2017 (393 photographs), 2018 (117 photographs), 2019 (204 photographs), 2020 (87 photographs), 2021 (14 photographs), and 2022 (2 photographs) for a total of 1164. A second person collaborated with William Grabowski on some of the photographs; these are noted at the folder level.

Accruals

The collection is open for additional donations from William Grabowski.

Collection processed by

Marybeth Kavanagh (2016), Larry Weimer (2018-22)

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:50:23 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Finding aid is in English

Processing Information

All accessions received from 2012 through 2016 (347 photographs) were processed in 2017 by archivist Marybeth Kavanagh. In October 2018, archivist Larry Weimer added the 2017 accessions (393 photographs). In May 2019, Weimer added the 2018 accessions (117 photographs). In October 2020, Weimer added the 2019 accessions (204 photographs). In February and April 2021, Weimer added the 2020 accessions (87 photographs) and, in December 2021, the 2021 accessions (14 photographs). In April 2022, Weimer added two photographs from January 2002.

Repository

New-York Historical Society
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024