He photographed a Ramone in Queens and blues legends on a floral sofa, but this New York photographer’s real passion is everyday people

A punk couple stand on a train platform, the man in sunglasses and a leather vest, the woman in a denim jacket and bracelets, holding up her blonde hair — Dee Dee and Vera Ramone, Queens, 1984 (Image credit: Harvey Wang)

In 1983, a line of Aboriginal men in traditional body paint and grass skirts walk across a patch of wasteland in Lower Manhattan, carrying spears. Behind them, one of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center soared into the sky. It’s very much a Harvey Wang picture.

For decades, Wang has been photographing people from every walk of American life. Musicians. Punks. Shopkeepers. Complete strangers. Now his work is the subject of a new exhibition, Wang’s World: Photographs and Films of Harvey Wang, at the Bronx Documentary Center.

The show brings together Wang’s photographs with his films, offering “an expansive view of an artist whose career has been rooted in observation”.

Origin story

Wang first picked up a camera as a teenager in Queens, where he was born and bred. After graduating in 1977, he worked as a photographer for the Village Voice under picture editor Fred W. McDarrah. Since then, his work has spanned documentary photography, portraiture, journalism, commercial work and film.

His portraits stand out for their warmth and directness. In one, from 1979, three blues legends (Lightnin’ Hopkins, Clifton Chenier and Honeyboy Edwards) sit side by side on a floral sofa in front of even busier wallpaper: a real visual riot.

Three older blues musicians in patterned suits sit side by side on a floral sofa in front of ornate patterned wallpaper — Lightnin' Hopkins, Clifton Chenier, Honeyboy Edwards, NYC, 1979 (Image credit: Harvey Wang)

A line of Aboriginal men in body paint and grass skirts walks across wasteland carrying spears, with one of the World Trade Center towers rising behind them.&rdquo; — Aboriginal People in NYC, 1983 (Image credit: Harvey Wang)

A portrait of an elderly Ella Baker with curly grey hair, wearing a quilted floral robe and smiling softly at the camera — Ella Baker, Civil Rights Activist, Harlem, 1982 (Image credit: Harvey Wang)

In another, shown at the top of this page, rock icon Dee Dee Ramone and his wife Vera pose on a train platforms, all leather, denim and wild hair, yet still evoking the countenance of the bored commuter.

Alongside his portraits, Wang has spent a career documenting the Big Apple's changing streets, especially the East Village in the 1970s and 1980s. This was a time of huge social and cultural change. The city was gritty and often broke, but it was also bursting with creative energy.

In the words of the organisers, his work captures “a world populated by New Yorkers, Americans, artists, workers, families, strangers, neighborhoods, and fleeting moments”.

These are pictures that above all capture everyday moments, although never in a way that's boring. In one, from 1984, a group of marathon runners make an unscheduled stop against a chain-link fence under an overpass; nature, evidently, had called.

Four runners in vests and shorts stand with their backs to the camera against a chain-link fence beneath an overpass — Marathoners, NYC, 1984 (Image credit: Harvey Wang)

boy in shorts and tube socks swings a baseball bat at a wrecked car, sending shattered glass flying on a New York street — Cleveland Place, NYC, 1979 (Image credit: Harvey Wang)

Four older men sunbathe in deckchairs and loungers against a stark wall, their faces turned up to the light. — Brighton Beach, 1980 (Image credit: Harvey Wang)

Another photograph depicts a scene that's more visceral and shocking – a young boy taking a baseball bat to a wrecked car, sending glass flying – although for many residents at the time, that may have seemed mundane too.

Wang is also an award-winning filmmaker whose work ranges from documentary to experimental. By showing both types of work side by side, the exhibition explores the links between “the single frame and the passage of time, between portrait and story”.

Wang’s World: Photographs and Films of Harvey Wang runs from November 13 to January 2027 at the BDC Annex, 364 E 151st St, Bronx, New York. It’s open Thursday and Friday from 3pm to 7pm, and Saturday from 1pm to 5pm. Admission is free but you need to reserve a spot. There’s an opening reception on Friday, November 13, from 6pm to 9pm.

Tom May is a freelance writer and editor specializing in art, photography, design and travel. He has been editor of Professional Photography magazine, associate editor at Creative Bloq, and deputy editor at net magazine. He has also worked for a wide range of mainstream titles including The Sun, Radio Times, NME, T3, Heat, Company and Bella.