Selected Writings
“Blast Radius: Punk, Post-Punk and New Wave, 1975-1983”
This essay examines the making of BLAST RADIUS, a Spotify playlist surveying the early history of punk, post-punk and new wave. Drawing on two years of research, it explains the curatorial decisions behind a selection of more than 2300 songs by nearly 400 bands and solo artists. The essay argues for a more inclusive reading of the period—one that traces the connections between the seemingly different kinds of music flourishing then. While punk’s adherents often insist on a purist understanding, the music’s explosion in 1975 ignited a cultural revolution that crossed genres and borders, and united communities around the world. Link to the playlist.
“Elegy: The Making of Jacob Israel Avedon”
In Richard Avedon Immortal: Portraits of Aging, 1951–2004 · Phaidon Press · 2025
This essay examines the conception and evolution of Avedon’s extended photographic engagement with his father, Jack Avedon, and considers its place within Avedon’s broader meditation on aging, vulnerability, and mortality in his portraiture. Drawing on archival materials and production history, “Elegy” traces the making of this seminal series, as well as its public reception when shown at the Museum of Modern Art in 1974.
“The Image Centre, Toronto: Interview with Paul Roth”
In The Classic, No. 09 · Spring 2023
In this conversation with author Mary Pelletier, I discuss curatorial practice, archival stewardship, and the responsibilities of institutions like The Image Centre in shaping the public’s understanding of photography.
“Swimming Upstream: Robert Frank, 1924–2019”
In Border Crossings, No. 152 · 2019
Written following Robert Frank’s death in 2019, this is a remembrance of the photographer and a consideration of his enduring influence. I wrote this essay from my perspective as the person who organized his photographic archive at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, during an early moment in my career.
“Saving Flávio: A Photographic Essay in Context”
In Gordon Parks: The Flávio Story · Steidl Verlag · 2017
This essay situates Gordon Parks’s landmark LIFE magazine photo essay on Flávio da Silva and his Rio de Janeiro favela within its historical, editorial, and political contexts. Drawing on archival research, “Saving Flávio” examines the circumstances of this Cold War project; its consequences for Flávio, his family, and community; and its impact on public discourse about poverty and the role of photojournalism in its representation.
Download “Saving Flávio”
“Unholy Trinity: The Making of Richard Avedon's Andy Warhol and members of The Factory, New York, October 30, 1969”
In Richard Avedon: Murals & Portraits · Gagosian Gallery · 2012
This essay traces the nine-month, multi-session production of Richard Avedon’s landmark group portrait of Andy Warhol and members of his Factory. Drawing on archival research, interviews with participants, and Avedon’s own later reflections, “Unholy Trinity” reconstructs how a failed initial sitting evolved into a remarkably complex, panoramic meditation on sexuality, artifice, and the passage of time.
“Family Tree: Richard Avedon, Politics, and Power: 1969–1976, A Chronicle”
In Richard Avedon: Portraits of Power · Steidl Verlag · 2008
This essay documents the rapid evolution of Richard Avedon’s portraiture during a critical period of his career, and a fraught moment in U.S. political life. Based on primary research, “Family Tree” offers a detailed account of the production and reception of the photographer’s series “Hard Times” (later published in his 1999 book The Sixties) and “The Family” (published in the October 21, 1976 issue of Rolling Stone magazine).