French photographer Lionel Derimais documented the raw energy and dangerous atmosphere of New York City during the winter of 1980, capturing iconic images that would later be published by Café Royal Books. His black and white photographs offer a unique glimpse into a city that was both thrilling and perilous, as seen through the eyes of a young French student who fell in love with photography just three years earlier.
Derimais first arrived in New York City in September 1979 to study English at Columbia University. "There was a sense that everything was quick and simple," he recalls. "I just wanted to be out there with film in my pocket, taking pictures." His passion for photography had begun relatively recently, in 1977, when a friend showed him his camera. "I immediately thought: I'll do that too – even though I had no idea what that meant," he says. That summer, Derimais secured a job at a photography shop, purchased his own camera, and built a darkroom to develop his work.
After returning to his native Paris in late 1979, Derimais found himself eager to get back to New York. In January 1980, he returned to the city and enrolled in a course at the International Center of Photography. "It was a very happy period of my life: shoot, process, print, repeat. A photographer's dream," he explains. The city provided endless inspiration for his work. "Everywhere I turned I saw a great picture, it was cinéma permanent!" he enthuses.
The photographer was particularly struck by the city's overwhelming scale and unique atmosphere. "The size and the atmosphere of the city was something else: the noise of the New York traffic is so special, the cars were just like in Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, and the height of the buildings on Seventh Avenue was like the Rocky Mountains looming over the streets," Derimais recalls. This cinematic quality of 1980s New York provided the perfect backdrop for his street photography.
However, the New York of 1980 came with significant dangers that Derimais experienced firsthand. "In 1980, New York had a reputation for being dangerous, so there was an atmosphere that you had to be careful when walking around," he notes. One morning near Madison Square Garden, he encountered this danger directly when a man attempted to mug him. "I managed to walk away but in my naivety, I went back to the guy, asking why he wanted to take my camera because I didn't have much more than he did," Derimais recounts. "He let me speak, then put his hand on my shoulder and said, 'If I'd wanted to take your camera, I'd have taken it!'"
The photographer witnessed other troubling scenes that illustrated the city's crime problem. "On one occasion, I saw a young kid running through the subway cars, gun in his hand, with the police running after him," he recalls. These experiences led him to a stark conclusion about life in the city: "It seemed to me that if you stayed long enough in New York – about a week by my calculation – you would see someone waving a gun."
Despite the dangers, Derimais captured compelling images of New York life, including scenes from the 1980 St. Patrick's Day parade in Manhattan, reflections of the Twin Towers in downtown Manhattan, street scenes on Canal Street, and portraits of African-American young women. His photographs documented both the vibrant street life and the more troubled aspects of the city, including down-and-out areas where American cars passed through deteriorating neighborhoods.
Today, Derimais continues his photography career from his current base in London, having lived in Brussels, Tokyo, and Beijing over the years. His favorite photographs, which have been published in prestigious outlets such as the New York Times, Le Monde, and El País, are those that tell people's stories and illustrate social life. His collection of black and white photographs from this transformative period has been published by Café Royal Books under the title "New York 1980," preserving his unique perspective of a city in transition during one of its most challenging eras.
