Dawoud Bey: Harlem, U.S.A

With this slim volume of 30 duotone photographs, readers are invited to revisit the Harlem of the 1970s. Edited by Witkovsky (Foto: Modernity in Central Europe: 1918–1945), the photographs in the book were originally displayed in 1979 at the Studio Museum in Harlem; the book also includes five images not previously exhibited. All images are posed snapshots of Harlem residents; Bey captures a pause in the middle of each subject's day. The appeal of the work comes from its timelessness—despite the elements of 1970s fashion, Bey's photographic subjects could live comfortably in any decade of the 20th century. However, part of the fun is identifying those details that do date the photographs, such as an Isley Brothers concert flyer tacked to a telephone pole and a movie ticket window with $2 admission prices.