Aperture Conversations: Melissa O’Shaughnessy and Gus Powell

On October 22, 2020, Aperture and the Strand Bookstore hosted a conversation between photographers Melissa O’Shaughnessy and Gus Powell, to discuss O’Shaughnessy’s new book Perfect Strangers: New York City Street Photographs. Over the last seven years, Melissa O’Shaughnessy has photographed daily on the streets of New York. As one of a growing number of women street photographers contributing to this dynamic genre, O’Shaughnessy enters the territory with clarity and a distinctly humanist eye, offering a refreshing addition to the tradition of street photography. Through her curious and quirky vision, we witness the play of human activity on the glittering sidewalks of the city. Woven into her cast of characters are the lonely, the soulful, and the proud. She has fallen for them all―perfect strangers.