Archivast is a new site that offers classic black & white photography prints. The founders, John Chaisson and Stephen Bridges, sift through photo archives in search of striking images that would appeal to today’s market, reproduce them.
Motivated by the fact that many newspapers have thrown away its glass negatives from the 1800s (and that Chaisson ahd a hard time finding a unique birthday present for his wife), Archivast is a platform for discovering, saving, reproducing, and exhibiting the best of classic black & white photography.
Designer John Derian curated the debut collection, “Heritage New York City,” from the archives of the New York Times and the Museum of the City of New York. Images illustrate the storied past of New York City, ranging in subject from the 1939 New York World’s Fair, to a snowy Central Park, to glamorous society women draped in haute couture.
In celebration of its launch, Archivast presents the “Heritage New York City” Curated by John Derian for Archivast Pop Up Gallery on Friday, June 6 – Sunday, June 8, from 12-5 p.m. at The High Line Loft, 508 W. 26th Street, 5th floor, NYC. If you’re in New York, you should certainly stop by, and let me know how it is.
All prints start at $295 for 11×14; printed on highest quality, archival paper. Each size has an edition of 100. Framing also available.
Here are three prints from John Derian’s collection and three from Archivast Eye NYC.
FASHION SHOW FOR THE UPTOWN LADIES, 1965
An afternoon fashion show with models in feathered masquerade masks, at the Crystal Room of the Sherry-Netherland Hotel, which hosted countless events for New York’s high society ladies.
ROOFTOP BALLET, 1925
Famed Vienna-born ballerina Albertina Rasch poses as she captures members of her ballet troupe with a box camera on the rooftop of the newly opened Steinway Building on 57th Street. The newly built Sherry-Netherland Hotel is in the background.
DINOSAURS ON THE HUDSON, 1963
Life-size dinosaur replicas are transported via barge along the Hudson River to their final destination at the 1964 World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows, Queens.
CIRCUS ELEPHANTS & SCHOOLKIDS, 1966
Skipping school children follow a parade of elephants in town for the circus. Thearches of the Triborough Bridges in the background echo the elephants’ silhouettes, while the children holding hands mimicking their trunks.
SNOWSTORM AT LAGUARDIA, 1940
Four workers struggle to secure an American Airlines flagship DC-3 to the frozen tarmac in a February snowstorm at La Guardia field in 1940.
NEW YORK BAY, 1890
An early view of New York Harbor, photographed by Robert L. Bracklow, most likely taken from the crown of the Statue of Liberty. It pictures the Hudson and East Rivers teeming with barges, steamers and masted ships. In the distance, are the rising buildings of lower Manhattan and the newly built Brooklyn Bridge.
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