During my senior year at the Hartford Art School, this project emerged from a compelling assignment and catalyzed my creative appreciation for the everyday subject. The assignment tasked us with breathing life into the echoes of the past by connecting history with contemporary landmarks. Each of us in the class received a vintage photograph from the early 1900s, capturing the essence of a then-bustling retail store on Albany Avenue.
In my own hands was a vintage photograph offering a window into an old delicatessen called Platt's as well as an image of Tager Barber Shop on Albany Ave. Both images inspired me to think of the simple, fleeting acts that make up the cycles of daily life. At a nearby grocery store, I captured the inconspicuous act of a man reaching for a box of cereal as an embodiment of this truth. Evay Day Spa was in the same building location as the original Tager Barber Shop.
My image of Platt's Delicatessen, in collaboration with a fellow classmate’s contribution, became a prominent piece on all marketing materials for this project. It served as the embodiment of our collective efforts to intertwine stories of the past with the present-day pulse of Albany Ave and guided my continued appreciation for the historical stories held by unsuspecting buildings.
Now and Then: Albany Avenue
February 6–August 15, 2005
Photographs by students of the Hartford Art School
Artifacts from the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford
Curator of the exhibition and the Sherman Museum:
Christine Dalenta, Hartford Art School