Arlene Gottfried: Young & Old
CLAMP is pleased to present Young & Old, the gallery’s first solo exhibition dedicated to the late New York photographer Arlene Gottfried (1950–2017). Drawn from the artist’s archive, the exhibition brings together a selection of portraits that challenge the notion of age as something fixed, instead presenting it as fluid and evolving—where youth can reveal unexpected depth and old age can remain vibrant and playful. In her Westbeth studio, Gottfried preserved decades of work in archival boxes, one of which was simply labeled “Young & Old.” The vintage prints it contained depict children and elderly subjects, sometimes within the same frame, while also reflecting the artist’s ongoing interest in individuals who embody both innocence and experience simultaneously. Gottfried’s photographs are often described as encounters rather than distant observations, grounded in closeness, trust, and familiarity. As she once stated, “My photographs were like souvenirs; I liked to collect moments and memories.” Her portraits offer precisely these moments, presenting subjects who meet the camera directly and express identity through style, vulnerability, humor, and self-possession. The exhibition forms part of a broader recognition of Gottfried’s contribution to the visual history of late 20th-century New York. A recent exhibition at The New York Historical, Picture Stories: Photographs by Arlene Gottfried, highlighted her ability to portray the city’s communities with honesty and empathy. CLAMP’s presentation extends this legacy through a focused and resonant theme, emphasizing the artist’s sensitivity to how time inscribes itself across faces, gestures, and in the tension between outward expression and inner life.
About the Author
Arlene Harriet Gottfried (1950–2017) was a New York street photographer known for her deeply empathetic and intimate portrayals of everyday life, particularly within the city’s working-class and marginalized communities. Although she began photographing in the 1970s, her work gained broader recognition only later in her life, especially from her 50s onward. Raised in Brooklyn, Coney Island, and later Alphabet City, she developed an instinctive ease with people, which allowed her to create direct, personal, and emotionally resonant images.
Over the course of her career, Gottfried published five photobooks, including The Eternal Light (1999), Midnight (2003), Sometimes Overwhelming (2008), Bacalaitos & Fireworks (2011)—focused on Puerto Rican communities in 1970s New York—and Mommie (2015), an intimate portrait of three generations of women in her family. Mommie received Time Magazine’s Best Photobook Award in 2016. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including at Paris Photo, the Leica Galleries, and the Smithsonian Institution, and is held in major collections such as the Brooklyn Museum, the New York Public Library, and the Maison Européenne de la Photographie.
Alongside her photographic practice, Gottfried was also a gospel singer, performing with the Eternal Light Community Singers. She died in 2017 in Manhattan at the age of 66, leaving behind a significant body of work that offers a compassionate and unfiltered portrait of New York City’s social fabric in the late twentieth century.
Arlene Gottfried: Young & Old
March 6—May 2, 2026
CLAMP – New York – USA
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