Photographer Alan Kritzler’s Exhibit Opens At Cafe Dada Thursday

Alan Kritzler’s photography exhibit, Signs of Our Times 2, opens at Cafe Dada (57 7th Ave) tomorrow, Thursday, July 11 with a party from 6:30-9:30pm, and you’ll be able to view his photos (including the one above, shot on Wall Street about two years before the 2008 crash) to the tunes of a live jazz duo.

For a little background on Alan and his work, we asked him a few questions about what you’ll see at the exhibit, where he most likes to shoot, and why he likes this year-old cafe so much.

PSS: How did you get started in photography?

AK: In the late 1960s I studied photography and studio art with some excellent teachers at Brooklyn College, including Walter Rosenblum, a well known photographer who had been a combat photographer is WWII, and with Philip Pearlstein, a very well known realist painter. I also did considerable drawing and performance art in those years. Photography has been the form which I stayed with over the years. In the 1970s, I exhibited at Soho Photo Gallery and some other venues.

I also had a career in arts administration (including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and NYC Department of Cultural Affairs). I recently retired after 18 years as a senior management auditor for the MTA Office of the Inspector General. I am now focusing on management consulting, photography, and writing.

What are some of the things you most like to photograph?

I am working on a book project with photos that show the ironies when advertising is contrasted with human beings as human really are. I think advertising is an alternative universe and not always a healthy one, even when it is entertaining. I find the contrast between advertising images of live and real people very telling.

Although some of my shots seem as if they combine several images, they are really all single image candid photos, not set up in any way. I shoot for irony, symbolic contrast, and “decisive moment.” In this way, I have been influenced by Henri Cartier-Bresson and Elliott Erwitt the most.

Is there a theme for your exhibit at Cafe Dada?

I call the show “Signs of our Times 2” (I had another show in Brooklyn in 2005 which was called Signs of Our Times 1). I think there are both encouraging and troubling aspects to “our times,” and I try to capture aspect of the complexity in many of my images. Despite the darker aspects, I use humor and irony to make my commentary.

Where’s your favorite place to shoot in the city? Do you ever shoot in Park Slope — if so, what are some of the things that come across most in the neighborhood through your photos?

I do a lot of street photography, particularly where there are a lot of advertisements (which is almost everywhere these days.) As you can imagine, Times Square is a good place for my kind of photo surrealism. I do a good number of photos in Park Slope and stop at coffee shops between shooting periods. Cafe Dada is a favorite resting place of mine, and I am very friendly with the owners and staff. They were very pleased to see my work and offered to exhibit it for July of this summer.

Above is a photo I took at Park Slope not long after 9/11. In a store window there was an artificial flower with an American flag attached to it. I shot into the window so you see both the flower, the flag but also a reflection of an ornately painted building that was behind me when I took the photograph. I lined things up for the best impact and symbolism.

What do you do when you’re not taking pictures?

Since my retirement in 2012, I have mostly done photography and writing, although I am seeking additional projects in “Good Government” organizations. I am now working on an article on money, media, and politics after the Supreme Court’s landmark Citizens United, which opened the floodgates to unlimited corporate expenditures for political advertizing, a situation that has changed the landscape of American democracy.

Cafe Dada opened about a year ago — has it become your go-to cafe in the area?

Actually, Cafe Dada is my favorite place in Brooklyn to have a coffee, a bite, and a chat. (They also have wine and beer and European dishes.) The owners are European and lend a sophisticated tone to the experience, a bit of Hungary and a bit of France. In general, I love meeting new people and chatting about “life and times” with almost anyone. This is a good place for it. One of the owners recently suggested an excellent pastry with mushrooms and it is my current favorite item. The crepes and omelets are excellent too. Cafe Dada frequently has live music, and I expect they will do more arts activities as times go on.

Alan’s exhibit opens tomorrow at Cafe Dada and will be on display through the end of the month.