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City Hall and Municipal Building, Civic Center, January 4, 2011

City Hall and Municipal Building, Civic Center, January 4, 2011
Gelatin silver print
16 x 20 in. (40.6 x 50.8 cm)

Candidate working the phone, Midtown, September 28, 2010

Candidate working the phone, Midtown, September 28, 2010
Gelatin silver print
11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

Meeting the candidate, Harlem, October 19, 2010

Meeting the candidate, Harlem, October 19, 2010
Gelatin silver print
11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

Listening to the candidate, Rego Park, Queens, August 25, 2011

Listening to the candidate, Rego Park, Queens, August 25, 2011
Gelatin silver print
11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

Leafleting, Upper East Side, October 19, 2010

Leafleting, Upper East Side, October 19, 2010
Gelatin silver print
11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

Campaign strategist, Midtown, September 28, 2010

Campaign strategist, Midtown, September 28, 2010
Gelatin silver print
11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

Watching primary campaign debate, Manhattan Republican Club, Upper East Side, December 15, 2015

Watching primary campaign debate, Manhattan Republican Club, Upper East Side, December 15, 2015
Gelatin silver print
11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

Entering polling place, Upper West Side, November 2, 2010

Entering polling place, Upper West Side, November 2, 2010
Gelatin silver print
11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

Election night, Republican Headquarters, Hilton Hotel, November 2, 2011

Election night, Republican Headquarters, Hilton Hotel, November 2, 2011
Gelatin silver print
11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

Election night, losing candidate’s headquarters, Harlem, November 2, 2010

Election night, losing candidate’s headquarters, Harlem, November 2, 2010
Gelatin silver print
11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

Pro-Israel rally defending the Gaza flotilla raid, Times Square, June 3, 2010

Pro-Israel rally defending the Gaza flotilla raid, Times Square, June 3, 2010
Gelatin silver print
11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

Westboro Baptist Church rally, Second Avenue at East 42nd Street, September 24, 2009

Westboro Baptist Church rally, Second Avenue at East 42nd Street, September 24, 2009
Gelatin silver print
11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

People’s Climate March, Central Park, September 21, 2014

People’s Climate March, Central Park, September 21, 2014
Gelatin silver print
11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

AIDS Walk, Riverside Drive, May 15, 2011

AIDS Walk, Riverside Drive, May 15, 2011
Gelatin silver print
11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

Rally for Ground Zero Mosque, St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church, Financial Distict, September 12, 2010

Rally for Ground Zero Mosque, St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church, Financial Distict, September 12, 2010
Gelatin silver print
11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

Union rat, Madison Avenue, Midtown, January 26, 2011

Union rat, Madison Avenue, Midtown, January 26, 2011
Gelatin silver print
11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

Anti-Iran nuclear deal rally, Second Avenue at 48th Street, September 1, 2015

Anti-Iran nuclear deal rally, Second Avenue at 48th Street, September 1, 2015
Gelatin silver print
11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

Fight for $15/National Day of Action, Cadman Plaza, Brooklyn, November 10, 2015

Fight for $15/National Day of Action, Cadman Plaza, Brooklyn, November 10, 2015
Gelatin silver print
11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

Falun Gong demonstration, Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, September 24, 2009

Falun Gong demonstration, Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, September 24, 2009
Gelatin silver print
11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

Occupy Wall Street, Zuccotti Park, Financial District, October 6, 2011

Occupy Wall Street, Zuccotti Park, Financial District, October 6, 2011
Gelatin silver print
16 x 20 in. (40.6 x 50.8 cm)

Newsroom, New York Daily News, Wall Street area, March 19, 2015

Newsroom, New York Daily News, Wall Street area, March 19, 2015
Gelatin silver print
16 x 20 in. (40.6 x 50.8 cm)

Neighborhood paper, Bayside, Queens, January 22, 2002

Neighborhood paper, Bayside, Queens, January 22, 2002
Gelatin silver print
11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

Editor & publisher, Kings County Politics, Kensington, Brooklyn, October 8, 2015

Editor & publisher, Kings County Politics, Kensington, Brooklyn, October 8, 2015
Gelatin silver print
11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

Reporter questioning Congressional Representative, Sutton Place, October 26, 2010

Reporter questioning Congressional Representative, Sutton Place, October 26, 2010
Gelatin silver print
11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

Interviewing the candidate, Tribeca, August 22, 2010

Interviewing the candidate, Tribeca, August 22, 2010
Gelatin silver print
11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

Media protest, Midtown, October 17, 2010

Media protest, Midtown, October 17, 2010
Gelatin silver print
11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

Dedication of David H. Koch Plaza, Metropolitan Museum of Art, September 9, 2014

Dedication of David H. Koch Plaza, Metropolitan Museum of Art, September 9, 2014
Gelatin silver print
11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

Second annual town hall meeting, West 83rd Street Church of the Redeemer, April 27, 2015

Second annual town hall meeting, West 83rd Street Church of the Redeemer, April 27, 2015
Gelatin silver print
16 x 20 in. (40.6 x 50.8 cm)

Charter school principal addressing parents of prospective students, Upper West Side, December 1, 2010

Charter school principal addressing parents of prospective students, Upper West Side, December 1, 2010
Gelatin silver print
11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

Conversation on Civil Society, Institute for American Values, Columbus Circle, September 22, 2011

Conversation on Civil Society, Institute for American Values, Columbus Circle, September 22, 2011
Gelatin silver print
11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

West Side Republican Club, 63rd Street YMCA, June 6, 2014

West Side Republican Club, 63rd Street YMCA, June 6, 2014
Gelatin silver print
11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

Staff meeting, non-profit legal services provider for indigent women, Wall Street area, September 11, 2013

Staff meeting, non-profit legal services provider for indigent women, Wall Street area, September 11, 2013
Gelatin silver print
11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

Thirtieth Annual Spring Fair, Hippo Playground, Riverside Park, May 5, 2013

Thirtieth Annual Spring Fair, Hippo Playground, Riverside Park, May 5, 2013
Gelatin silver print
11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

Town hall meeting about Museum of Natural History construction in Theodore Roosevelt Park, Fourth Universalist Society, October 6, 2015

Town hall meeting about Museum of Natural History construction in Theodore Roosevelt Park, Fourth Universalist Society, October 6, 2015
Gelatin silver print
11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

Question from the floor, lecture, St. Francis College, Brooklyn Heights, March 25, 2014

Question from the floor, lecture, St. Francis College, Brooklyn Heights, March 25, 2014
Gelatin silver print
11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

Riverside Park Conservancy Gala, General Grant National Memorial, June 6, 2016

Riverside Park Conservancy Gala, General Grant National Memorial, June 6, 2016
Gelatin silver print
11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

Parent Teacher Association (PTA) meeting, Upper West Side, April 10, 2013

Parent Teacher Association (PTA) meeting, Upper West Side, April 10, 2013
Gelatin silver print
11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)

Press Release

Nailya Alexander Gallery is pleased to present William Meyers: Civics, on view Wednesday, October 5 through Saturday, October 29 at 41 East 57th Street, New York, NY, Suite 704. The opening reception will take place in the gallery on Wednesday, October 5 from 6:00-8:00 PM. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11 AM – 6 PM, and by appointment.

Civics takes as its epigraph a quote from an essay by David and Nathan Tucker: “Civic life is the life we live in dealing with problems of common concern.” (Music and Civic Life in America, 2013) The exhibition, which is divided into four parts, explores the ways in which individual citizens involve themselves in the procedures, rituals, symbols, and rhetoric of American democracy. The first part, Politics, addresses the formal processes for dealing with the issues of civic life, while the second, Demonstrations, probes the manner in which groups make known their particular concerns. Press addresses how these concerns are reported to the public, and Powwows, the final section, is a study of the lectures, conferences, meetings, and social gatherings where problems and plans are discussed.

Meyers’ photographs track more than a decade of New York City’s civic life, from the cramped newsroom of a neighborhood newspaper in Queens in 2002 to the events surrounding the proposed mosque near Ground Zero in 2010, and from the Occupy Wall Street demonstration in 2011 to a rally against the Iran nuclear deal in 2015. The project, Meyers writes, “is not so much about politicians or ideology as it is about the way individual citizens involve themselves in civic processes…Civics is about the organs of government, but also what people take upon themselves to do for the communities in which they live.”

Civics is William Meyers’ second solo show at Nailya Alexander Gallery, and comes on the heels of the success of his series Outer Boroughs: New York Beyond Manhattan, which was the subject of a major exhibition at the New York Public Library in 2015. That same year, the series was published as a book by Damiani. Richard Rivera wrote of Outer Boroughs in the New York Journal of Books, “Meyers’ vision of the city’s open spaces is gritty, detailed, and often stark rather than romanticized…His portrayal of the people of New York is full of character, attitude, and generosity of spirit.”

William Meyers’ work can be found in the collections of the Museum of the City of New York, the New York Public Library, the New York Historical Society, and the Department of the Classics at Harvard University. Meyers writes about photography regularly for The Wall Street Journal, and has lectured on photography and served on panels at the International Center of Photography, the City University of New York, the State University of New York, Long Island University, and the National Foundation for Jewish Culture.

William Meyers lives and works in New York.