Louis Faurer

This book is the first in 15 years to present the largely overlooked work of Philadelphia-born, New York–based photographer Louis Faurer (1916–2001), who depicted the melancholy streets of New York in the 1940s and ’50s, and whom Walter Hopps described as a “master of his medium.”

Faurer initially worked for fashion magazines such as Harper’s Bazaar in New York, but soon focused his eye on the enchanting city itself: “Everywhere a new discovery awaited me.” Here Faurer made poetic, darkly romantic images of the characters of the street, often the poor and lonely amidst the bustle of Times Square during what he called its “hypnotic dusk light.”

Inspired by Walker Evans, Faurer developed a personal, highly empathetic vision, comparable to that of Robert Frank, with whom he shared a loft and darkroom in his early New York days.

was included in Edward Steichen’s influential exhibitions In and Out of Focus (1948) and Family of Man (1955), both at The Museum of Modern Art, New York.