FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 2023
UNSEEN: photographer Daniel Sackheim recontextualizes Los Angeles and film noir’s enduring legacy
in a new solo exhibition at Soho Photo Gallery in New York
UNSEEN
A solo exhibition at Soho Photo Gallery
Opening Reception with the artist: August 10: 6-8 PM ET
On view August 9 – September 3, 2023
Soho Photo Gallery
15 White Street
New York, NY 10013
New York, NY – Acclaimed television/film director and photographer Daniel Sackheim presents his new solo exhibition, UNSEEN, at Soho Photo Gallery, recontextualizing imagery of Los Angeles and film noir.
Throughout the 1940s and 50s, what we now categorize as film noir was an emerging genre defined by its hardboiled crime plots and distinctive use of chiaroscuro lighting that was actually the result of financial constraints in the industry at the time. Sackheim, whose directorial credits include the likes of True Detective, Ozark, Game of Thrones, and others, evolves the visual language of film noir to create a body of photographic work that points to the same aesthetics associated with the genre while also recontextualizing its influence in contemporary urban environments.
Unfolding around Los Angeles, UNSEEN examines isolation, social anxiety, and how the “decisive moment” lauded by Henri Cartier-Bresson is perhaps more fleeting and haunting than it is revelatory. Stylistic cues, such as Sackheim’s prominent use of stark lighting and shadow, imply not only a cinematic sensibility but also dramatize everyday patterns and behavior with mysterious intent. With UNSEEN’s debut in New York, the series brings the East Coast a distinct visual lexicon of the architecture and atmosphere throughout Los Angeles that stands in contrast to the sun-drenched, glitzy romanticization often associated with the city and Hollywood tropes.
“UNSEEN explores a facet of life in a city known as the birthplace of film noir and my obsessive curiosity rooted in a need to discover secrets that remain hidden just beneath even the most forbidding corners of the city. To excavate the past, to stare into the faces of ghosts long forgotten.” – Daniel Sackheim
The winner of Soho Photo Gallery’s recent Portfolio Competition, Sackheim will exhibit 12 photographs from the series after previously exhibiting selections with institutions like Leica Gallery Los Angeles, Santa Monica Art Museum, the Center for Photographic Art, and elsewhere.
UNSEEN will be shown in the North Gallery of Soho Photo Gallery, on view August 9 – September 3, 2023.
About Daniel Sackheim
Daniel Sackheimis a photographer, film and television director and producer living and working in Los Angeles.
As a director, Sackheim is best known for his work on multiple highly acclaimed television series. Some of his directorial credits include: Game of Thrones, True Detective, The Americans, The Walking Dead, Jack Ryan, Servant, Better Call Saul, The Leftovers, The Man in the High Castle, Ozark, and Lovecraft Country. He has received multiple Emmy nominations, including in 2017 for directing the Ozark episode “Tonight We Improvise,” which is a category he won in 1997 for an episode of NYPD Blue.
Sackheim is the co-founder of Bedrock Entertainment, which produces prestige content programming streamers and premium cable platforms.
Sackheim’s photographic practice translates the filmic language of his career into still photography that explores the interweaving of the temporal and the abstract to examine urban landscapes and the ways in which we perceive time and nostalgia. His attraction to spaces dominated by shadows stems from his love of film noir and its predilection for heightened reality. A member of a number of photography centers, he is also a curator for www.streetfinder.site which is a growing community for street photography.
Website: www.danielsackheim.com
Instagram: @daniel.sackheim
Twitter: @DanSackheim
About Soho Photo Gallery
We are committed to supporting the work of artists representing our society’s cultural diversity, and providing space to explore the context in which their work is created.
Our exhibits spotlight a wide array of photographic styles and techniques practiced by our member artists around the world. We run several competitions each year, offering selected artists the opportunity to show their work.
We sponsor several outreach programs to nurture young talent. Our Emerging Photographers initiative offers underrepresented artists with original voices exhibition opportunities and access to our community. Our intern program for local college students provides hands-on training in operating a gallery.
We offer our members a supportive atmosphere that fosters collaboration and artistic growth. In addition to our exhibitions, our public events include a speaker series, workshops, portfolio reviews and demonstrations, which are free or at a modest cost.
Website: www.sohophoto.com
