Photo By Gail

99 Cents Dream (2020) is part of an eponymous series from photographer Graham MacIndoe taken primarily in New York City since March 2020, when the pandemic changed our lives practically overnight.  MacIndoe took the opportunity to venture out into different parts of the city and was captivated by the quietness of the streets, the feeling of isolation, and people walking through the unfamiliar landscape of shuttered stores and restaurants. The estrangement of human interaction he often saw and felt made him view the city and its inhabitants differently. Things he may not have noticed before, like gestures, graffiti and shadows, became more pronounced because of the mostly empty sidewalks and streets. Many of the scenes he encountered brought to mind the book Lanark by the Scottish author Alisdair Gray, which in part describes the city and its disappearing residents. These pictures are about displacement and a lack of belonging and a feeling that something is not quite right, which of course was the case before Covid-19 arrived.

Photographed in The National Arts Club in Gramercy Park, Manhattan.