FREE Screening of “On the Street,” Tomorrow at the New York Public Library

Seriously, how cool is this– during 1980 to 1990, photographer Amy Arbus took pictures of local New York City color for the “On the Street” section of the  Village Voice.  Years later, as she was preparing to publish a book of her work, she wondered what happened to many of her 500 photographed subjects, and where they are today.  Enter filmmaker John Spellos, who followed Arbus as she attempted to track down her subjects, and interviewed them 20-something years later.  The result is the documentary On the Street, which will be screening for FREE tomorrow– Wednesday, February, 1st– at the New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building.  Sounds awesome, right?

As you can imagine, most of the people Arbus tracked down were surprised to see their photographs after so many years, and they all regaled her with tales of their awesome/crazy/unforgettable time in downtown New York back in it’s 80s heyday.  These stories, coupled with an unstoppable soundtrack, make for a pretty magical documentary about one of NYC’s most culturally-rich periods of fashion/music/nightlife.  We also get to see where all of these people are 20 years later– are the “edgy downtown artists” of the past now crocheting blankets and watching daytime television while their cats pee all over the house, or have they maintained their hip cred?

The FREE screening will be followed by a Q&A with Arbus and Spellos.  More information can be found HERE.

On the Street Screening
Wednesday, February 1st, 7-9pm
FREE
NYPL Stephen A. Schwarzman Building (455 5th Ave. and 42nd St.)
[Midtown]