UPDATE: Tuesday, August 20, 2:40 p.m.
The mystery of the Upper West Side photographer who took the photo of Joan Conner and her husband Cliff in 1981 has been solved.
Conner reached out to the Rag at the beginning of August asking for help in identifying the woman who used to run a photography business on Amsterdam Avenue between West 85th and 86th streets.
Marcia Roesch reached out to Conner on the platform NextDoor last week to provide the following answer.
“Joan,
You are talking about my grandmother, Rose Redfield, who had New Era Studio for many years until she died at age 92. She walked 10 blocks to work and 10 blocks home every day until she was 91! She and my grandfather were photographers on the Upper West Side soon after they were married and newly arrived from Russia – around 1910 or so.
The photography studio that I first remember was on Columbus and 95th Street – United Artists – but when their studio was torn down during urban renewal, they were forced to move and to change the name. Originally, my grandfather, who was trained as a chemist, hand painted the photographs and my grandmother took the pictures. After my grandfather died, my grandmother continued her work learning how to “photoshop” pictures before there was such a thing and accepting color film, although she didn’t like it. She was an early woman who worked and raised two children. She was tough, dedicated, and clearly ahead of her times!”
Original Story
By Joan Conner
I’m writing to you in the hopes that you might be able to help us identify the photographer who took a beautiful photo of my husband and me in December 1981. Her photography business was located on Amsterdam Avenue between West 85th and West 86th Street just north of Barney Greengrass. The photographer was an elderly woman who seemed to be running the shop all by herself. Her methods were old fashioned, but her artistry in capturing the essence of the people she photographed was top notch. That was more than forty years ago, and I think she was about ninety years old at that time.
Can anyone tell us the name of that photographer? We want to credit her for some of the excellent photographs she took.
Thank you,
Joan and Cliff Conner
Subscribe to West Side Rag’s FREE email newsletter here.
I lived at W. 87th and Amsterdam during that time, and I recall the shop but not the name. You might go into Barney Greengrass and speak to Gary Greengrass, the third generation owner, who was there during that time as a young man, he might recall. Many other stores have come and gone, but Barney Greengrass remains!!
If it matters to your search, Greengrass is between 86 and 87, not 85 and 86
There are a lot of Facebook pages dedicated to NYC nostalgia. You might be able to find someone to help you in one of these groups. Good luck!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/246120308736411
https://www.facebook.com/groups/SHPKings
Handsome couple. I thought well-known actors, at first.
Good luck.
Barney Green grass is on Amsterdam between 86th and 86th, and I think it has been there since the 1930s.
Was the business between 86th and 87th or 85th and 86th? Thank you
Ask the owner of Greengrass
…also, the nypl probably has microfilmed or digitized copies of old phonebooks, and/or publications with business ads.
great idea, they do… but you would need the Yellow Pages if you don’t have the name.
I think it’s the same photographer that took my wedding picture in 1982. But that framed picture was boxed up for a renovation. When it resurfaces, I hope I will be able to answer the question!
She might be listed in the Yellow Pages. The NYPL has phone books that go back decades.