Collin Avery

This week I am very pleased to show the work of my good friend Collin Avery. This body of work entitled Vend is a series on the street venders in New York City. Collin is currently a junior at Montana State University and received a grant through the school to do this project last summer. All of these images were shot on his 4x5.

Union Square was once home to a dizzying array of street vendors and artists who congregated and set up shop in the park daily. In years past, the state of New York neither encouraged nor disrupted the vendors, but recently, there has been action put forth by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to cease vending in Union Square park limits. State ruling has banned vendors from using the park as a means of profit. However, in conjunction with this vote, Bloomberg tried to make amends by allowing vendors twelve designated spots on the far outside perimeter of the park to use for selling their goods and promoting their work. These recent rulings have had local residents and vendors in an uproar because Union Square had once been a destination for tourists to bring home original artwork from New York City.

As I explored Union Square and its surroundings, I was immersed in a culture that would imminently be forgotten. These photographs befriend the artists of Union Square while providing a visual record of place and time.

www.collinavery.com