“Everywhere I turned I saw a great picture”
– Lionel Derimais, New York 1980
Canal street, New York, NY
In September 1979, French photographer Lionel Derimais arrived in New York City to study English at Columbia University. “There was a sense that everything was quick and simple,” he says. “I just wanted to be ‘out there’ with film in my pocket, taking pictures.”
Lionel’s love of photography began in 1977 when a friend showed him his camera. “I immediately thought: ‘I’ll do that too’ – even though I had no idea what ‘that’ meant,” he says. That summer, Derimais got a job at a photography shop, bought a camera and built a darkroom.
In late 1979 Derimais went home to his native Paris but was itching to return to New York. In January 1980 he returned and began at course at the city’s International Center of Photography.
“It was a very happy period of my life: shoot, process, print, repeat. A photographer’s dream,” he says. “Everywhere I turned I saw a great picture, it was ‘cinéma permanent’! The size and the atmosphere of the city was something else: the noise of the New York traffic is so special, the cars were just like in Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, and the height of the buildings on Seventh Avenue was like the Rocky Mountains looming over the streets.”
“In 1980, New York had a reputation for being dangerous, so there was an atmosphere that you had to be careful when walking around,” he says. “One morning near the Madison Square Garden a guy tried to mug me. I managed to walk away but in my naivety, I went back to the guy, asking why he wanted to take my camera because I didn’t have much more than he did. He let me speak, then put his hand on my shoulder and said, ‘If I’d wanted to take your camera, I’d have taken it!’”
– Lionel Derimais
“On one occasion, I saw a young kid running through the subway cars, gun in his hand, with the police running after him,” he recalls. “It seemed to me that if you stayed long enough in New York — about a week by my calculation — you would see someone waving a gun.”
– Lionel Derimais (via Huck)
Young men – including one who is sick – at the 1980 St Patrick’s day parade, Manhattan, New-York City, NY, USA.
Kids posing for a photo while another one hides, Manhattan, New York City, NY, USA. 1980
A reflection of the twin towers in downtown Manhattan, Manhattan, New York City, NY, USA, 1980
Canal street, New York, NY
An American car passes a down and out area of New-York City, Manhattan, New York City, NY, USA. 1980
Man wearing a hat, a raincoat and wearing a tie makes a strange face at the St Patrick’s day parade, Manhattan, New York City, NY, USA, 1980
Winter scene in mid-town Manhattan, New York City, NY, USA. 1980
African-American young women, Manhattan, New York City, NY; USA. 1980
More from Lionel
Lionel has lived in Brussels, Tokyo, Beijing, and on and off in London, where he is currently based. Lionel’s favourite pictures, which he publishes in outlets such as the New York Times, Le Monde and El Pais, are those that tell people’s stories and illustrate social life.
His black & white photos are published by Café Royal Books under the title New York 1980.
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