Alex Webb & Rebecca Norris Webb: Memory City

"A meditation on working with photographic film in the former center of the imaging universe” —James Estrin, The New York Times

Located in Rochester, New York, Eastman Kodak was one of the world’s leading manufacturers of photographic film for 125 years. Following the company’s declaration of bankruptcy in 2012, photographers Alex Webb (born 1952) and Rebecca Norris Webb (born 1956) traveled to Rochester to capture images of the city during the twilight of Kodak’s existence. Memory City responds to the uncertain future of Kodak film as a medium by presenting a view of Rochester that reflects the city’s prosperous past and current troubles. Usually known for his color work, for this project Alex Webb used his final rolls of Kodachrome--a color film now only able to be processed in black and white--to capture Rochester’s fading grandeur. He also photographed the city’s streets in digital color. Rebecca’s photographs consist of color portraits and still-lifes of Rochester’s women, both young and old, taken using Portra--one of Kodak’s last films. For this publication, the artists have also created a timeline of Rochester’s cultural history, tracing the evolution of the complex, once-vibrant city. This book also contains quotations from many of the famous writers and thinkers who have been connected to Rochester and its environs, including women’s rights activist Susan B. Anthony, abolitionist Frederick Douglass, and poets John Ashbery and Ilya Kaminsky.

“Webb's boldly coloured glimpses of residential neighbourhoods, markets and community gatherings show a city that has not lost its pride. But for every manicured lawn and fluttering Stars and Stripes, there are many bleaker counterpoints - a broken couch on a neglected street, a figure slumped on a public bench, exhausted workers queueing for the night bus home. "We wanted to achieve a sense of layers," Webb says. "We wanted a structure that mirrored our sense of this down-and-out yet very soulful place."”

Memory City combines the rich, brilliant street photography of Alex Webb with the contemplative, metaphorical work of his wife, Rebecca Norris Webb.

The Webbs have distinct styles, but Memory City underscores what they have in common: an ability to pack the frame with emotional and intellectual substance, and make it beautiful, too.--David Walker "PDN"

Alex Webb was born in San Francisco in 1952. His photographs have been featured in The New York Times Magazine, Life, Stern, and National Geographic and exhibited at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, and the International Center of Photography and Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. He is a recipient of the Leica Medal of Excellence (2000) and a member of Magnum Photos.

Located in Rochester, New York, Eastman Kodak was one of the world's leading manufacturers of photographic film for 125 years. Following the company's declaration of bankruptcy in 2012, photographers Alex Webb (born 1952) and Rebecca Norris Webb (born 1956) traveled to Rochester to capture images of the city during the twilight of Kodak's existence. Memory City responds to the uncertain future of Kodak film as a medium by presenting a view of Rochester that reflects the city's prosperous past and current troubles. Usually known for his color work, for this project Alex Webb used his final rolls of Kodachrome--a color film now only able to be processed in black and white--to capture Rochester's fading grandeur. He also photographed the city's streets in digital color. Rebecca's photographs consist of color portraits and still-lifes of Rochester's women, both young and old, taken using Portra--one of Kodak's last films. For this publication, the artists have also created a timeline of Rochester's cultural history, tracing the evolution of the complex, once-vibrant city. This book also contains quotations from many of the famous writers and thinkers who have been connected to Rochester and its environs, including women's rights activist Susan B. Anthony, abolitionist Frederick Douglass, and poets John Ashbery and Ilya Kaminsky.

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