12 x 12 Black and White, Archival Digital Print
Statement: Here are two photographs of my father taken just as he was starting to slip into dementia. (Molly Roberts chose this one for the exhibition.)
He had been a man who cared deeply about his appearance. He was handsome, impeccably groomed and the ladies loved him. As he aged and life took its toll, he lost everything including his money, his wife, his apartm
ent in New York City, and his memory but held onto his pride till the end.
He ended up living alone in Florida with not many visitors and shriveled up.
Although these portraits were taken before COVID, they remind me of what it was like to be lonely and the effect of not seeing loved ones.
Stephanie Berger has been on the scene, photographing the performing arts for over 30 years as the house photographer in New York City’s cultural venues such as The Park Avenue Armory, The Brooklyn Academy of Music, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and The Met Museum. She has been a contributing photographer for the New York Times culture pages for many years chronicling dance, theater and music and the ever-evolving story of this creative community. She has been working on a photo series “Boyhood 2.0, of her twin sons which shows their expressive nature and the intimacy of brothers who have grown up side by side, partners in childhood.
In 2016, she published her first book, Merce Cunningham: Beyond the Perfect Stage that is now in the collection of many museums and university libraries.
