Early Work

In the latter 1960s, when Carofano was about 23 years old, he went to the Bowery in New York City and photographed people living on the sidewalks, sleeping on the sidewalks, passed out on the sidewalks or in doorways. Those photographs are different in one crucial respect from the “Faces of Pedro” series in that they are not tight shots. They show the viewer the luckless person’s clothing, belongings, or the patch of dirt or concrete around him. Although these things confirm and supplement the subject itself – a man or woman going through hard times – they reinforce a stereotypical response while allowing us to evade a one-on-one, face-to-face encounter with the specific individual.

Bondo Wyszpolski

Art Editor for Easy Reader

Excerpt from Desolation Row