Though this is the third published interview I’ve done wth ace NYC photographer, David Godlis, he never fails to bring another crazed story or three, not to mention great memories and viewpoints on New York. Known mainly for his incredible shots of the early CBGB days, his latest book, Godlis Streets, collects his equally amazing street photography from the late ‘70s/early ‘80s. Check out my interview with Godlis above, and these pix from the book that aren’t in the piece...

“If you go home with somebody, & they don’t have books, don’t f**k ‘em” -John Waters Ton of great books in store or online at thecast.com #TotalExcess #MichaelZagaris #GodlisStreets #Godlis #BillyName #KarlheinzWeinberger #BornToBePublic #Dodged&Burned #BrianShanley #ReturnOfTheRepressedDestroyAllMonsters #TomofFinland #MyRamones #DannyFields #DrunkyardDog #PeterCarlaftes #IAmMichaelAlago #TheMuddClub #RichardBoch #ImJustADrummer #BobBert #ThePsychicSoviet #IanSvenonius #BoundLeatherZine #CarryOnDreaming #JeffWard #SunglassesAfterDark #JuanAranzazu #Books #Photography (at The Cast NYC) https://www.instagram.com/p/CJpgrnxlNF9/?igshid=1h8s34uc2l6a3

What ten books helped the @motherjonesmag photo department get through this turd of a year? Turns out three of our 2020 favorites were Best-of picks by @motherjonesphoto editor @ickibod ⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ @debicornwall 'Necessary Fictions' from @radius.books is an examination of "the mock villages and cities built on military bases around the United States with the idea of giving soldiers realistic training before landing in Iraq or Afghanistan. It’s a theater of the absurd, or a “necessary fiction…” It's a smart book. The photos are great, but all in all, as a book, it’s exceptional."⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ 'Chris Killip: The Station' from @steidlverlag "is notable for being the final book Chris Killip published before his death this year. It’s also notable for being thoroughly awesome—an in-the-pit look at small-town UK punk circa 1985… You can almost feel (and smell) the flesh and sweat and spikes and leather of the punks dancing to songs railing against Thatcher and Reagan. This work sat largely untouched for decades. Killip’s son found the contact sheets in 2016 and prodded his father to publish it."⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ @godlis Streets from @reelartpress "is more than a dizzy romp through a fantasized, fetishized New York. This is raw, exceptional street photography. It’s loose, but not overly so. It’s black and white and grainy, but not for effect. Godlis was a young man with a camera and wide open eyes taking in what he saw. F/16 vision. Taking it all in. It’s great to see Godlis get his due in this regard. If you happen to follow him on Instagram (you should), you’ve seen these photos and hoped for a book. Dreams do come true."⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ Read the full reviews via linkinbio.⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ #debicornwall #necessaryfictions #motherjonesbestphotobooks #chriskillip #thestation #godlis #godlisstreets⁠⠀ https://www.instagram.com/p/CJYppC-pzHW/?igshid=10dv4bjcn4zgr

"Wall Street, NYC," 1987, is reproduced from 'Godlis Strets,' published by @reelartpress⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ @godlis is most famous for his images of the city’s punk scene and serving as the unofficial official photographer for the Film Society of Lincoln Center. For 40 years, his practice has also consisted of walking around the streets of NYC and shooting whatever catches his eye: midnight diner patrons, stoop loiterers, commuters en route to the nearest subway station. With an acute sense of both humor and pathos, Godlis frames everyday events in a truly arresting manner.⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ This publication presents Godlis’ best street photography from the 1970s and ’80s in a succinct celebration of New York’s past. The book is introduced by an essay written by cultural critic @luxante and closes with an afterword written by @blondieofficial cofounder and guitarist @christein⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ Read more via linkinbio.⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ #godlis #godlisstreets #wallstreet #80snyc #70snyc https://www.instagram.com/p/CJWwFNBpb_w/?igshid=5e2dikvtfu8

"Godlis’s pictures show people uneasily enacting half-forgotten rituals, wearing vestigial dress-up clothes and timidly asserting spatial autonomy, in a city that seems to have been erected and abandoned by another, larger species. Time moves haltingly, hesitantly, and seems to loop back on itself even as it draws inexorably toward death.… The subjects who notice his camera are wary at best, wondering whether he is a spy, or perhaps harvesting their souls, or maybe they wish he’d been there to take their pictures when they still looked good and the world made sense." — @luxante from @godlis Streets published by @reelartpress⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ Pictured here: "Statue of Liberty, 1974"⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ Read more via linkinbio⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ #godlisstreets #godlis #statueofliberty https://www.instagram.com/p/CJWHSAIphze/?igshid=136jj74f1aayc

Images from Holiday Gift Staff Pick 'Godlis Streets, published by @reelartpress with texts by @godlis @luxante & @christein⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ When he is on the street armed with his camera, photographer David Godlis (born 1951) describes himself as “a gunslinger and a guitar picker all in one.” Ever since he bought his first 35mm camera in 1970, Godlis has made it his mission to capture the world on film just as it appears to him in reality.⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ Godlis is most famous for his images of the city’s punk scene and serving as the unofficial official photographer for the Film Society of Lincoln Center. For 40 years, his practice has also consisted of walking around the streets of New York City and shooting whatever catches his eye: midnight diner patrons, stoop loiterers, commuters en route to the nearest subway station. With an acute sense of both humor and pathos, Godlis frames everyday events in a truly arresting manner.⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ This publication presents Godlis’ best street photography from the 1970s and ’80s in a succinct celebration of New York’s past. The book is introduced by an essay written by cultural critic Luc Sante and closes with an afterword written by Blondie cofounder and guitarist Chris Stein.⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ Read more via linkinbio.⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ #godlis #godlisstreets #70snyc #70sboston #holidaygiftbook #holidaygift⁠⠀ https://www.instagram.com/p/CIY2r6UJlQU/?igshid=w7b3rb7lb070

Congratulations to our publishers, editors, artists and writers, selected by the @nytimes art reviewers for this year's Best Art Books of 2020!⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ From Holland Cotter:⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ Godlis Streets by @godlis with text by @luxante @christein and published by @reelartpress⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ Ray Johnson and William S. Wilson: Frog Pond Splash⁠⠀ Collages by Ray Johnson with Texts by William S. Wilson, edited by Elizabeth Zuba and published by @sigliopress⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ Read the full reviews via linkinbio!⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ #nytimesbestartbooks #godlis #godlisstreets #rayjohnson #williamswilson #frogpondsplash https://www.instagram.com/p/CIG0WLeprt_/?igshid=sftvgboso9yn

Photos from 'Godlis Streets,' launching 5PM EST TONIGHT, Thurs, 11/19, with a @rizzolibookstore Zoom event featuring @godlis in conversation with @luxante @christein and moderator Dave Brolan of @reelartpress⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ When he is on the street armed with his camera, photographer David Godlis (born 1951) describes himself as “a gunslinger and a guitar picker all in one.” Ever since he bought his first 35mm camera in 1970, Godlis has made it his mission to capture the world on film just as it appears to him in reality.⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ Godlis is most famous for his images of the city’s punk scene and serving as the unofficial official photographer for the Film Society of Lincoln Center. For 40 years, his practice has also consisted of walking around the streets of New York City and shooting whatever catches his eye: midnight diner patrons, stoop loiterers, commuters en route to the nearest subway station. With an acute sense of both humor and pathos, Godlis frames everyday events in a truly arresting manner.⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ This publication presents Godlis’ best street photography from the 1970s and ’80s in a succinct celebration of New York’s past. The book is introduced by an essay written by cultural critic Luc Sante and closes with an afterword written by Blondie cofounder and guitarist Chris Stein.⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ Signed copies available via @rizzolibookstore⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ Event link in bio.⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ #godlisstreets #davidgodlis #godlis #lucsante #chrisstein #70snyc #80snyc #streetphotography https://www.instagram.com/p/CHyMPxVJ6wB/?igshid=114cyrysj2l78

Photos from 'Godlis Streets,' launching 5PM EST TONIGHT, Thurs, 11/19, with a @rizzolibookstore Zoom event featuring @godlis in conversation with @luxante @christein and moderator Dave Brolan of @reelartpress⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ Stein writes: "… This stuff borders on the magical. The juxtapositions are amazing. How long did he wait for these people, shapes and hidden messages to interact so fantastically? Is it eye, luck, synchronicity, practice, skill or all of it? ⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ A woman with two kids sits in a museum looking at a painting of a woman sitting with two kids. Two rather conservative women pass by a lurid X-rated movie poster. It’s like these moments are posed but in a way they’re too good and succinct to be staged. ⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ It’s just the heightened reality that’s all around us all the time but that usually remains unobserved. Maybe David’s mission is like capturing the sound of the tree falling in the forest that nobody hears. ⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ And the time travel. Characters and people whose style and substance are so familiar yet so antiquated. We know and miss the old cities. ⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ David don’t be daunted by my effusiveness, somebody’s got to say it."⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ Signed copies available via @rizzolibookstore⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ Event link in bio.⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ #godlisstreets #davidgodlis #godlis #lucsante #chrisstein #70snyc #80snyc #streetphotography https://www.instagram.com/p/CHx81DCpqir/?igshid=g9mqqf5o9s2m

Photos from 'Godlis Streets,' Reel Art Press's riveting new collection of 70s and 80s Boston & NYC street photography by David @godlis Launching 5PM EST TONIGHT, Thurs, 11/19, with a @rizzolibookstore Zoom event featuring @luxante & @christein who both contribute texts to the book, this is seedy, stylish and celebratory old-school time travel at its best. ⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ "Godlis’s pictures show people uneasily enacting half-forgotten rituals, wearing vestigial dress-up clothes and timidly asserting spatial autonomy, in a city that seems to have been erected and abandoned by another, larger species," Sante writes. "Time moves haltingly, hesitantly, and seems to loop back on itself even as it draws inexorably toward death.… The subjects who notice his camera are wary at best, wondering whether he is a spy, or perhaps harvesting their souls, or maybe they wish he’d been there to take their pictures when they still looked good and the world made sense."⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ Signed copies available via @rizzolibookstore⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ Event link in bio.⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ #godlisstreets #davidgodlis #godlis #lucsante #chrisstein #70snyc #80snyc #streetphotography https://www.instagram.com/p/CHxlFsmJA8s/?igshid=2avvkia8woqo