Off Duty Checker Cab by Drew Carolan

Edition Details: Archival pigment print on 100% cotton cotton rag with a baryta satin finish, signed and numbered in the margins by the artist, and released in the following exclusive worldwide limited edition:

• 18x24 sheet, edition 30, $2,400.
• 24x32 sheet, edition 30, $3,750.
• 30x40 sheet, edition 20, $5,400.

Additional Information: Drew Carolan Photography

Curator's Note

Drew Carolan’s Off Duty Checker Cab (1982) serves as a significant study in the evolution of street photography, captured during the genre’s pivotal postmodern transition. While mid-century masters, such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, prioritized the "decisive moment," the subsequent generation—exemplified by figures like Jamel Shabazz—shifted toward a fearless documentation of the subject’s broader environment. Carolan’s practice occupies a rare space at the intersection of these two traditions.

In this photograph, we encounter a cinematic visual record of late 20th-century urbanity. An implicit narrative unfolds within the composition: a lone driver navigating a desolate, icy city night. The image achieves the primary goal of great photography—establishing an unmistakable sense of time and place—while eliciting a profound empathy for the human presence within the frame, despite the cabbie remaining unseen.

This evocative sense of empathy is a signature of Carolan’s work. The power of this specific photograph lies in its ability to convey a complete human narrative without the physical presence of a figure.

This image is featured in Carolan’s monograph, NATIVE EYE | New York City In The Late 20th Century, published by FATHOM.