Unplanned Beauty: Unintended By Photographer David Stock At 440 Gallery

Photographic capabilities on smart phones improve with every release, which makes it very easy for anyone to snap a decent one. It takes mere seconds to spot an interesting image on the street, take a photo with your phone, and then post it on social media.

With that in mind, the photographer — artist and professional — takes on a very different role.

440 Gallery (440 6th Avenue, between 9th and 10th Streets) has been offering engaging photography exhibits as of late. Previously, photographer Amy Williams created an exciting set of images for her exhibition entitled Sanctuary which embraced the abnormalities of the camera she used during her process.

440’s newest offering is an exhibition by photographer David Stock entitled Unintended. While very different from Williams’ exhibit in structure and approach, the idea of embracing abnormality is front and center to Stock’s work.

Stock has been photographing since the age of fourteen. Mostly self-taught, he was influenced by Arthur Siegel and Aaron Siskind at Harvard University, where he received his BA in 1972.

As he was readying for his show’s opening, Stock took some time to speak with us about his newest exhibit, his work as an activist, and his penchant for urban environments.

SSN: Congrats on your opening at 440 Gallery. Have you worked here before?

I’m one of the newer artists here at 440 — I’ve been here for about a year. I’ve enjoyed the experience — and being here has really pushed me to get my work out more.

Tell us a bit about your background. Have you always been a photographer?

I started photographing when I was very young. I grew up in Manhattan. I lived in Boston, then in Southern California before coming back to New York. I was a dockworker in Long Beach and San Pedro for about 30 years, but I was also photographing. I did a lot of activist work — rank and file labor things. There was a tension being both an activist and photographer. I still consider myself a radical.

Would you call Unintended a political exhibit?

This work definitely has a social edge to it, but I wouldn’t call it explicitly political. The work involves social observation — and at the same time this is how I’m expressing myself.

Since you’ve had an expansive career in photography, has your process changed over time?

The technology has changed so much, which has had an effect on the photographs. The camera is wonderful device, and I love making prints. My first camera was an Instamatic 104 when I was 14 years old. I’ve used lots of kinds of film cameras, and I used to make my own prints in the darkroom. These days I use a digital camera and I make digital pigment prints on fine art papers.

The photographs in Unintended are from very different times. “Manhole” was shot in 1984.

Yes, I have photographs that are also very recent in this exhibit. There’s a common point of view running through them. I think the way they’re printed also unifies the exhibit.

I’ve done this kind of photography from the beginning. I tend to walk around in urban neighborhoods to find surprises, visual puns, and oddities.

With so many interesting visuals that one can see in an urban environment, what attracts you to a particular moment?

There are these things we walk by all the time on city streets that have stories and allegories hidden in them. I try to recognize them, dig them out. The photos in this exhibit all have an element of something unintended or surprising or funny. I try to to make photographs that are graphic and self-contained and that reflect some of my own feelings or values.

I’ve noticed some of your images come from this very neighborhood. It’s interesting to be so familiar with an image personally and then actually see it framed by you as a photographer.

Yes. “Leaning” was taken on 12th Street just below 5th Avenue — the north side of the street. The light has been replaced with something newer, but you can see the old one if you go back to 2007 on Google Street View.

What other cities have you worked in?

I’ve taken a series of photographs in Tokyo. It was interesting because my wife, Hazel Hankin, is also a photographer. We were often photographing the same situation, but the pictures were really different. I’ve photographed a lot in L.A. and Long Beach. Locally, Hazel introduced me to Coney Island, which is always fascinating to shoot. But I tend to work in whatever neighborhood I happen to live in. I love cities.

You can join David Stock at the reception for Unintended on Saturday, October 24 from 6-9pm.

The Exhibition Rundown: Unintended by David Stock
Where: 440 Gallery (440 6th Avenue, between 9th and 10th Streets)
When: Now through Sunday, November 22
Phone: 718-499-3844
Hours: Thursdays and Fridays 4-7pm; Saturdays and Sundays 11am-7pm
Admission: Free