Text and Photographs by Stephen Harmon
In the summer of 1978, I moved from the suburbs of Long Island to the Upper West Side. When I started walking the sidewalks of the neighborhood, especially on Broadway, I was fascinated by all the people I saw strolling with their spouses or friends, or sitting on the benches in the medians, talking with neighbors. It was a positive time for many people. The city was coming out of a fiscal crisis. The folks I saw and often met had great dignity, self-confidence, and a sense of community.
Moved by a look, a gesture, a manner of dress, I loved to snap candid photos, but also to take people’s portraits, when they gave me permission to photograph them. Through their faces, I hoped to capture the look and feel of those days, which I knew were going to vanish as they must with time. I wanted to say with my camera, “This is who lived during those days and what it was like.”
Stephen Harmon is a longtime Upper West Sider, a retired lawyer, and a world-class photographer whose work is displayed in many of the city’s museums, including The Museum of the City of New York, The Brooklyn Museum, The New-York Historical Society, and The New York Public Library.
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So many cigarettes.
A sign of the times.
Great photos!
Thanks so much.
This is so great.
The Upper West Side was so authentic.
People are so dressed up.
You are so right–people don’t smoke like that now, but we don’t dress up like that anymore either. In the summer now, people wear their underware on the street.
❤️❤️❤️❤️
Keep them coming! These a great! People are always fascinating to look at.
I moved to NYC’s UWS in 1965 after living all over the US. Since then I have seen so many changes, mostly for the better. Now I cannot imaging living anywhere else.
Wonderful photos which bring back memories of that time. The neighborhood was much more diverse and a haven for creative people. It’s still my favorite place.
Lovely photos. But also brings back memories of so many people SMOKING! Yuck.
Thanks!!
Throwback Thursday’s are the best! Thank you!!!
Love these! And … love how the neighborhood still has so much character – different, perhaps, as times change and people change and fashions change (well, fashion’s always circles back around, if the young’uns in my family digging in their grandma’s closet for ‘vintage’ are any indication …) – and yet the colorfulness and beauty of the human experience remains. I would love a current exhibit, too!
YES…I too, would love an exhibit!
Great pics!
Very cool.
Stephen, thank you so much for sharing your work. Your pictures capture a true feeling that accompany the images. Loving these trips back in time! 🧡💜❤️
Love, love love, your pictures! Thank you so much! What a treat!
I would rather have this UWS and more street parking than the UWS of today.
I’d rather have the stores, too. It’s bad when the suburbs have better shopping than NYC.
Great photos! Moved up here in 87 and I remember my dad saying” you are living above 86th street? Sure that is ok” Still here….
This is fantastic! What a treat! So many characters. All walks of life, all stages of life, all MOODS haha. It’s interesting to look into each person’s eyes and look beyond the outward display – at the person within or the deep internal emotional state at that moment – often quite different from what you see at first blush. Thank you for this! I LOVE the UWS.
Edit: for those whose eyes are visible. As for the others, just get to admire the fabulous eyewear!
Terrific series. I remember the accordion player. What a soulful expression! You have preserved something so wonderful – thank you!
Great photos. Thanks
I moved to the UWS in 1979 and every time one of Steve’s photo stories is published in the West Side Rag I look to see if I recognize anyone. This time I spotted my friend, pianist Sylvie Degiez (RIP) in the 12th photo. She left us too soon in 2023. Sent the article to her husband. What a wonderful surprise. Thank you!
These are absolutely wonderful photos. I remember those days! Thank you for publishing them, so evocative and moving, a world gone by.
What a treasure! Exactly the year I started my life in NYC, introduced to the UWS by the guy who eventually became my husband and raised our kids here with me, right here at the ever-changing Hotel Bretton Hall :). Thank you for sharing this moment in time and these fabulous faces! ❤️