Helluva Town: New York City in the 1940s and 50s
by: Cherry, Vivian

Hardcover. New York , powerHouse Books, 1st, 2007, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, 96 pages, 80 richly printed, b/w duotone photo plates. Vivian Cherry began her career in the 1940s while working as a dancer in Broadway shows and nightclubs. Cherry supported herself partly as a 'darkroom technician' for Underwood & Underwood, a prominent photo service to news organizations. She began shooting the world around her during this time of change, combining informal portraiture with cityscapes of the Lower East Side, the Third Avenue El (and its ensuing demolition), the streets of Harlem, Hell's Kitchen, and the Meatpacking District. She joined the Photo League where she studied with Sid Grossman. - throughout the 1940s and 1950s. Her work from this period provides lively vignettes of New York City, of gritty street-scenes, of social consciousness, and of history. Cherry's work is in major national collections. and has been well published. Very good in a bright dust jacket.