The Field Library Gallery is proud to present the world of Charles Ruppmann, a celebrated New York Daily News photographer whose scenes of New York City life unfold at their most dissolute and gritty, glorious and glamorous, striking and resolute. His photographs of street life, hedonistic celebrities, stark crime scenes, and complex personalities strike an immediate chord whether the viewer is picking up a newspaper or strolling through a gallery.
The show,Eye on the Naked City: the Photographs of Charles Ruppmann, opens Jan. 28 and runs through Feb. 25. The opening reception is Jan. 28 from 12 to 4 p.m.
Charles Ruppmann started out as a copy boy at the News immediately after graduating from high school in 1960, and later was encouraged to apprentice in the photo department darkroom to learn the workings and technique from the ground up. His talent and hard work led him to be promoted to one of 57 staff photographers in February of 1967.
Honing his craft during the overnight shift, Ruppmann covered the entire beat of the city: crime, society events, riots, fires and the beginnings of paparazzi photography. All photographers were issued a NYC police working press card, which provided access to any situation. “Good spot news photography required you to get to the scene as quickly as possible, which was accomplished by working out of a Daily News radio car equipped with police and fire radios,” he explains.
Scenes such as Studio 54, a suicide attempt, a night at the opera with Beverly Sills, a world premier on Broadway, a women’s rights rally, Miles Davis’ arrest, raging fires in the Bronx during the 1977 World Series, or a nervously peering bank robber (John Stanley Wojtowicz, the inspiration for the film Dog Day Afternoon), are all captured by Ruppmann’s lens and transformed by his keen eye into high art.
Charles Ruppmann was born and raised in New York City. Since 1980, he has resided in Peekskill, New York, where he remains on the lookout for definitive moments of raw power and beauty.
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The Field Library Gallery is located on the upper, mezzanine level of the adult reading rooms, and viewing hours are the same as the Field Library open hours. The Field Library is located at 4 Nelson Avenue, Peekskill, New York, and is wheelchair-accessible. For further information please call Sibyl Canaan, Library Director at (914) 737-7110, or email scanaan@wlsmail.org or visit the library's website (www.peekskill.org).
