Cheryl Dunn | The Whiles

Immerse yourself in the captivating world of photography at Leica Store and Gallery Meatpacking with our electrifying Saturday Morning series, Behind the Binding!

Join us for an invigorating presentation with photographer Cheryl Dunn as she unravels the stories behind the photographs in The Whiles.

Programming begins promptly at 11:00 AM.

Seating is first-come, first-served.

Following the talk, indulge in signed books with the artist!

Seating is limited, so be sure to reserve your spot in advance!

Cheryl dunn

The Whiles

Blurring Books

"Just as long as I have been searching for meaningful compositions and striking light on the streets of NY, I have been searching my archive to find that special shot I took 15, 20 years ago or even yesterday. I organize imagery using descriptive words, dates, names and location. For instance, I'll search " BROADWAY" or " BIRD " or "CROSSWALK".

The groupings that emerge are always fascinating to me, the random connective threads sometimes disparate, tell a story a new story. These stories are about how we move within a cityscape, communicate, love, fight, dance, and survive. The streets are like a canvas where a piece of wood in a trash can becomes a beautiful sculpture, where the rooftops are a spiritual respite from the streets — yet still part of the same pulse, the same club.

The way we move through public space — walking, dancing, skating, or even fighting — has a distinct rhythm, a pace that belongs distinctly to NYC. This is THE WHILES NYC."

Cheryl Dunn is a New York City–based documentary filmmaker and photographer whose work
centers on the theater of the streets and the evidence people leave behind.

Since the late 1980s, she has worked as a documentary photographer, moving through the
streets of New York to capture the city—graffiti, subcultures, and fleeting moments—while also
working extensively on editorial assignments, photographing musicians, artists, sports, and
fashion. Her work spans both street life and pivotal events in the city’s history, including the
collapse of the Twin Towers, the 2003 blackout, Occupy Wall Street, and the protests and
unrest of 2020.

She is the author of several photography books, including ALL Roses (2025), Festivals Are
Good (2017), Some Kind of Vocation, and Bicycle Gangs of New York.

Her feature films include Moments Like This Never Last, about artist Dash Snow and the
downtown New York scene after 9/11, and Everybody Street, an award-winning documentary
on New York City street photographers.

In her new book The Whiles (2026), Dunn brings together decades of New York City images—
street photographs and documentary moments—linked through text that reframes and
recontextualizes them. The result is a shifting sequence of connections, where disparate
moments begin to speak to one another, echoing the rhythm and movement of the city.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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