Peter Funch: 42nd Street and Vanderbilt
Between 8:30 AM and 9:30 AM, from 2007 to 2016, at the intersection of 42nd Street and Vanderbilt Avenue in New York City, Danish photographer Peter Funch embarked on a nine-year photographic journey. Focusing on this specific time frame and location, he distilled the endless creative possibilities of NYC into a detailed study of daily life’s subtle moments, highlighting the routine stroll from one point to another. His work serves as a reminder that the potential of photography, especially street photography, is far from exhausted. Through a blend of precise and instinctive editing, Funch’s images reveal human behaviors and patterns often overlooked at first glance. These become reflections on time, mortality, the divide between public and private spaces, the economy, and our inner worlds. As Douglas Coupland notes in the afterword, Funch’s approach represents “a kinder, gentler kind of surveillance.” In one instance, what seems like a diptych of a woman captured seconds apart gradually transforms into a “Spot the Difference” puzzle. Slight differences in clothing, hair, lighting, and shadows come into focus, leading the viewer to the surprising realization that the photos were actually taken on different days, months, or even years apart. This simple yet profound technique used by Funch elevates the mundane into the extraordinary. It reveals how our unnoticed habits, along with the rhythms of our environment, can persist and repeat along a familiar path, turning everyday actions into a kind of performance—a revelation about the nature of time and space in urban life.
About the Author
Born in 1974 in Denmark, Peter Funch (DK) is currently based in Paris, France, after spending 13 years living and working as a photographer in New York City. A 1999 graduate of the Danish School of Journalism with a degree in Photojournalism, Funch skillfully blends social commentary with a cinematic approach. His work, both in still images and video, merges storytelling with a keen eye for social nuances, all presented through a visually cinematic style. He operates on a global scale, engaging in exhibitions, book publications, editorial work, and commercial projects, bringing together technical precision with a signature Nordic calmness and understated humor.
Funch has collaborated with prominent international clients such as Sony, HSBC, and the Whitney Museum. He has released four monographs, including Babel Tales and 42nd and Vanderbilt, which explore the routines and rituals of public life in New York City.
Recent exhibitions featuring his work include 42nd And Vanderbilt in Vevey, Switzerland (2020), Street, Life, Photography (Group Exhibition) at Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland (2020), A History of Photography: Daguerreotype to Digital at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, UK (2018), The Triennial of Photography at Deichtorhallen in Hamburg, Germany (2018), Photography To End All Photography at the Photo Biennale in Brandts, Odense, Denmark (2018), Friendships at Nivaagaards Malerisamling in Nivå, Denmark (2016), and The Aesthetics of the Mobile Phone at the Museum Angewandte Kunst in Frankfurt, Germany (2015).
In 2018, Funch was honored with The Art, Design and Architecture Award of the Year from the Dir. Einar Hansen and Wife Vera Hansen Foundation for his work on 42nd and Vanderbilt.
