Arlene Gottfried - Midnight

I was browsing books in Powerhouse the other day and I came across this one. I was drawn in by the cover. As I turned the pages I saw that the entire book was portraits of this beautiful man. I could not put it down, I went slowly through it page by page, it was so thought provoking and beautiful I just had to share it.

Midnight by Arlene Gottfried

Twenty years in the making, Midnight shows the innate dignity of an individual as he struggles to transcend mental illness. Fifty photographic prints chart the dramatic changes in fortune and health of the photographer’s friend, Midnight.

Handsome, friendly, and fun to be with - his playfulness and enjoyment of films, art, music, dancing, and singing was absolutely contagious ...I found out later that this very gentle, sensitive soul suffers from schizophrenia. As a friend I tried to help him.... Some days when I came home I found that he had called and left a message on my answering machine. He could be calling from downstairs in the lobby or from anywhere in the USA - once he called me from Puerto Rico.’ Arlene Gottfried

Arlene Gottfried was born and lives in New York, and freelances for publications including The New York Times Magazine, Fortune, Life, and The Independent. Her work has been exhibited at the Leica Gallery, New York and Tokyo, and the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., and is collected by the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the New York Public Library and the Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Berenice Abbott International Competition of Women’s Documentary Photography.

(taken from the book flap)

She's DOPE!!!