Fotografiska New York
Museum of Photography
Originating in Stockholm (1971) then opening in Tallinn (2019, Estonia’s capital). Fotografiska has a gorgeous new outpost in New York in the Gramercy Park neighbourhood of 22nd Street and Park Avenue South adjacent to the Flatiron District and Madison Square Park, a lovely place to sit and watch the world go by.
Fotografiska NY inhabits a beautiful 1892 building named the “The Church Mission House”.
Of the building's parochial history, no part is more secular than the infamous Anna Sorokin’s attempt to lease the building for a private members' club and art foundation that she hoped to create. Because of its Netflix depiction of her fraudulent misrepresentations, the building gained some deserved notoriety but for the wrong reasons.
Fotografiska’s self-described raison d'être is to "… showcase the greatest photographers, whether they’re emerging artists or already established internationally." Its restaurant, Veronika (5 pm - 2 am, gorgeous), is named after the patron saint of photography, Veronica, and intended to exert the "tone, texture and timbre of European grand cafés before the turn of the 20th century". And so it does.
A recent visit with my friend Jane was to explore the David LaChapelle show, exhibited over three floors. Bright and glorious it is, a good fit for the well-designed space housing it.
S&P Luncheonette is nearby as is its neighbour Eataly, both near 23rd Street and Broadway, and both are highly recommended.
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