Photographer Phil Penman is more accustomed to documenting the news than making it.
His new book, which is set to be published next month, is his second. Pre-orders briefly saw it top several Amazon best-seller categories last week.
For the past 25 years, Penman has made New York his home. Before that, he spent time as a newspaper photographer in Berkshire fir both the Wokingham Times and Reading Evening Post.
In his career as a news and magazine photographer, he has photographed major public figures and historical events. In particular, his reportage following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center has featured on NBC’s Today show, as well as on the BBC, History Channel, and Al Jazeera, and his images have been included in the 9/11 Memorial and Museum’s archives.
Some of his images covering the pandemic lockdown in New York City have been acquired by the U.S. Library of Congress, whose collection holds work by such great Depression-era documentarians as Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange.
Besides showing at Leica galleries in New York, Washington, D.C., Boston, and London, Penman’s signature street photography has appeared in international exhibitions as far afield as Venice, Berlin, and Sydney.
“I have nothing but great memories of my time in Berkshire,” said Phil.
“The lessons I learned have stayed with me until this day.”
“The beauty of each day was that you never knew what you were going to shoot next.
“One day you could start the day photographing a local politician and next it could be photographing a couple celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary.”
In addition to winning awards, Penman has also been named as one of the 52 most influential street photographers.
Penman’s street photography has earned a worldwide following, but how much of what he captures is down to luck?
He said: “In life, luck is just putting yourself in a position to catch a break. You don’t get lucky by staying in bed.
“You have to be in it to win it.
“To make it in photography today you have to work harder than ever.
“I have definitely had some luck, but I put myself in the position in the first place.”
His new book, New York Street Diaries, is an impressive coffee table book for all fans of the Big Apple.
He shows the big city from a side that is rarely seen, calm and tranquil. The pictures were taken partly during the great snowstorm and partly during the Corona Lockdown and are thus contemporary witnesses of the pandemic restrictions that completely turned our previously-known world upside down.
Book Highlights:
Publisher: teNeues Publishing
ISBN: 9783961714957
Publish Date: September 1, 2023
