Arlene Gottfried photographs
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Date
Creator
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
This collection consists of 325 photographs by New York City street photographer Arlene Gottfried (1950–2017). The images, which include color and black & white prints, offer dynamic portraits and scenes of daily life in ethnically diverse communities in New York City from 1972-1994.
Biographical / Historical
Arlene Gottfried (1950–2017) was a New York City street photographer who captured the grit and vibrancy of New York in the last decades of the 20th century.
Born August 26, 1950 in Coney Island, Brooklyn, she was the daughter of Lillian (Zimmerman) and Max Gottfried, who owned a hardware store above which the family lived. Gottfried was the older sister of comedian and actor Gilbert Gottfried (1955–2022) and Karen Gottfried. When Gottfried was 9, the family moved to Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and then in the 1970s, they moved to Manhattan's Lower East Side. As an adult, Arlene Gottfried lived in Westbeth Artists Housing, a subsidized artist community in Greenwich Village.
After studying photography at the Fashion Institute of Technology, Gottfried worked as a photographer for an advertising agency. She then worked as a freelance photographer for publications such as The New York Times Magazine, Fortune, Life, and the Village Voice. Gottfried published five books of her work: The Eternal Light (1999), Midnight (2003), Sometimes Overwhelming (2008), Bacalaitos and Fireworks (2011), and Mommie: Three Generations of Women (2015). In 2025, the New York Historical presented an exhibition entitled Picture Stories: Photographs by Arlene Gottfried.
Gottfried died at home in New York City on August 8, 2017.
Arrangement
The photographs are arranged alphabetically by title.
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of 325 photographs by New York City street photographer Arlene Gottfried (1950–2017). The majority are silver gelatin prints, along with some color cibachrome prints. The photos date from 1972-1994.
Gottfried's photographs document the people and places of 1970s and 1980s New York City. They include portraits of her family, friends, neighbors, and people she encountered in ethnically diverse communities across the city. Settings include apartment interiors, churches, festivals, block parties, parades, beaches, Coney Island amusement parks, sidewalks, vacant lots, nightclubs, roller rinks, and discos.
The titles and dates were derived from labels on the photographs, and from information provided by the donors. Item numbers were assigned during processing.
Subjects
Access Restrictions
Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.
Use Restrictions
Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, New York Historical, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org.
Preferred Citation
The collection should be cited as: Arlene Gottfried Photographs, PR 473, Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections, New York Historical.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Dara Gottfried and Karen Gottfried, 2024. (299 photos)
Gift of Sally Klingenstein Martell, 2024. (26 photos)
About this Guide
Processing Information
Collection processed in 2025 by archivist Marybeth Kavanagh.