Natan Dvir: Platforms

Natan Dvir: Platforms by Aline SmithsonJune 13, 2018

©Natan Dvir

Natan Dvir is a photographer who is able to navigate all aspects of the human experience, from documentary work captured in other parts of the world, to projects on climate change close to home. His latest two projects are wonderful observational studies of how the built environment and human beings interact, both are well-seen tableaux of the urban every day. His well-celebrated series, Coming Soon, looked at how massive advertisements in New York City set the stage for interesting juxtapositions.

©Natan Dvir, from Coming Soon

His new project, Platforms, are observations of behavior acted out on New York subway platforms. The photographs are triptychs of sorts, using the architecture of the subway platform to create filmstrips of daily life. Platforms will be featured in these exhibitions: [Space] Street. Life. Photography at Haus Der Photographie as part of the Triennial of Photography Hamburg which opened June 7th. The exhibition explores seven decades of street photography and presents the work of 50 photographers masters such as Diane Arbus, Robert Frank, Lee Friedlander, William Klein, and Martin Parr alongside young international artists such as Maciej Dakowicz, Ahn Jun, Doug Rickard, and Natan. The Grand Prix exhibition at FotoFewtiwal in Lodz, Poland is opening June 21st where Natan will have 11 prints featured, including a wallpaper sized 2m X 6m.

October 31, 2016 - New York, New York, United States: A man wearing a Batman costume, two women wearing Ghost Busters costumes, and another woman wait at 14th Street-Union Square station for the uptown bound trains at the end of Halloween night.

©Natan Dvir

Natan Dvir is a photographer who focuses on the human aspects of cultural, social and political issues. He received his MBA from Tel Aviv University and his MFA in Photography from the School of Visual Arts (NY), after which he became an adjunct faculty member at the International Center of Photography (ICP). Based in New York he photographs around the world represented by Polaris Images photo agency and Anastasia Photo gallery.

Natan’s main projects were exhibited in many solo and group exhibitions in the United States, Europe, South America, Asia, Australia, and Israel including the Museum of Fine Arts (Houston), Portland Art Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art (Cleveland), Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Blenton Museum of Art (Austin), Southeast Museum of Photography (Daytona), International Center of Photography (New York), Blue Sky Gallery (Portland, OR), Anastasia Photo Gallery (New York), Schneider Gallery (Chicago), Houston Center for Photography, Center for Photography in Woodstock, Museo de Antioquia (Medellin), Head On Festival (Sydney), Festival de la Luz (Buenos Aires), War Photo Museum (Dubrovnik), the Central European House of Photography (Bratislava), Christie’s (London), Kultur Bahnhof Eller (Düsseldorf), Tel Aviv Museum of Art, and Museum on the Seam (Jerusalem).

Natan’s work has been published by leading international magazines including The New York Times, Newsweek, Wall Street Journal, Der Spiegel, Stern, Focus, The Times, Daily Mail, Paris Match, Le Monde, and Le Figaro among others. His work has received recognition wining prizes around the world including the Picture of the Year (POYi), PDN Photo Annual, American Photography, International Photography Award (IPA), New York Photography Festival Award, Critical Mass top 50, and the Picture of the Year Award in Israel.

©Natan Dvir

Platforms

“Platforms” is a series exploring the unique New York underground architecture and the people temporarily passing through it. Subway platforms seen from the point of view of a waiting commuter on the other side, present a voyeuristic experience geometrically dissected by the architecture of the space. Visually reminiscent of photographic filmstrips, the ubiquitous subway columns organize the space into multiple narratives. One needs to scan across in order to reveal dynamics between the passersby and see the complete picture. The platform becomes a stage where “actors” take their temporary place until the train passes and invites the following “act”.

The images in this series visualize the nuances of a self-inflicted isolation in an otherwise dense and chaotic mega-city. Interactions, or lack thereof, manifest themselves in body language and spatial locations of the commuters observed. Overwhelming usage of personal technological devices minimize the potential for human connection even further. Combining a voyeuristic practice with a photographic strategy taking advantage of the stations’ architectural characteristics, the series reflects detachment, separation, personal spaces, individualism, loneliness, and momentary connections in the underground niches of an urban metropolis. – Natan Dvir