Restaurant Reflections, NYC

Born in Kohler, Wisconsin, Jerome Mallmann graduated from UW–Madison in 1953. He eventually settled in New York City, where he explored the streets with a Leica camera. Compact and quiet, the Leica, when used with high-speed 35mm film, allowed Mallmann to avoid attracting attention and make sharp photographs from a distance. He was drawn especially to people in moments of isolation and solitude within public spaces of the crowded city. As such, smokers and sleepers are recurring themes that naturally emerged in Mallmann’s work.