Daniel Traub

Philadelphia

July 5 - 29, 2012

Photographer Daniel Traub created this series of color photographs between 2008 and 2010 using a large-format film camera while exploring the inner city neighborhoods of Philadelphia, the city where he was born. 

Traub explains his approach this way: "I look at street corners, the facades of buildings, churches, and vacant lots. Along the way, I make portraits of people that I encounter. I am drawn to this raw urban landscape, which hovers between collapse and regeneration, decay and possibility . . . houses that have fallen into disrepair have been torn down leaving breaks in the urban fabric. The walls of adjoining buildings function as frames for the landscapes that have arisen. Some are strewn with trash and debris, while others are lush and verdant."

Daniel Traub is an American photographer who divides his time between New York City and Shanghai, China. Since 1999, he has been engaged with long term projects in China includingSimplified Characters, which explores the transformation of China's cities through street portraits and urban scenes, and City's Edge which looks at the border region where urban and rural China meet. Traub's photographs have been exhibited in Asia, Europe, and the United States, including solo exhibitions at the Catherine Edelman Gallery in Chicago and the Print Center in Philadelphia, and are found in public and private collections including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. His work has appeared in publications such as The New York Times Magazine, London Telegraph Magazine, TIME, and Wallpaper*. In 2008, he was selected by Photo District News as one of 30 photographers to watch, was chosen to participate in the Hyères Photo Festival, France, and was awarded a fellowship from the Center for Emerging Visual Artists in Philadelphia. Additionally, Traub has been the director of photography for numerous documentaries and reports for networks and production companies including PBS, German Television ZDF, and Arte.