The photographs are large, circular black and white shots of locations in New Orleans where people were murdered. The pictures aren’t bad per se. They show mostly empty, run-down urban locations with a dreary light that becomes a little grittier in black and white. But more times than not, the pictures fall short, the urban grit just makes pictures them look like location shots for a more dramatic movie. Which for photographs of murder scenes makes sense, but being brought in on the apparent tedium of a crime scene investigator isn’t as enjoyable as it might sound. And none of this addresses that the pictures are printed as circles because “that is how the camera sees.” This is true enough, but the visual effect adds a preciousness to the black and white pictures that turns them into the equivalent of an a flea market curiosity. The images are dull but delicate end up being both too much and too little.
Through February 5th
Jack Shainman Gallery (513 w 20th St. Btw. 10th & 11th Aves)
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