On October 15 I was honored to have a conversation with photographer Neal Slavin at the Cooper Union Library that we called Seeing together: Photography Through Language and the Senses. We discussed several of his colorful group portraits, as well as one of his earliest photographs—a black and white portrait of a blind woman in the subway, which is the photo that first brought us together at the New York Public Library in 2023.
A black-and-white photograph of the Cooper Union Library event, taken from the audience. Leona Godin sits in profile, facing Neal Slavin, who listens with one hand near his chin. Several audience members occupy the foreground, including someone holding up a smartphone to photograph the conversation. A large monitor displays Slavin’s group portrait of elaborately costumed Star Trek convention-goers–from his book When Two or More Are Gathered together.
By Grayson Dantzic.
Leona Godin and Neal Slavin pose together after their Cooper Union event, Slavin’s arm resting around Leona’s shoulders. Leona wears a black jacket, long patterned skirt, and silver chain belt, holding her folded white cane. In the foreground, Neal’s wife Anita Burkhart photographs them with her smartphone. Behind them, a large screen displays Slavin’s theatrical group portrait of costumed Trekkies.
By Adele Eisenstein.
Leona laughs exuberantly beside Lisa Norberg—Director of the Cooper union Library, and Neal at a book-signing table. In this black-and-white photograph, Lisa smiles directly at the camera, while Neal leans forward on the left, his arm in a sling. In front of Leona sits a metal braille writer with a copy of There Plant Eyes inserted. Additional books and pens rest on the white tablecloth.
By Grayson Dantzic.
Leona signs copies of her book, There Plant Eyes: A Personal and Cultural History of Blindness, using a metal Perkins Braille-Writer at Cooper Union. Several copies with vivid violet covers lie across the white tablecloth. Neal Slavin sits beside her, his arm in a sling, while Lisa stands behind them.
By Adele Eisenstein.
A tightly framed black-and-white photograph shows a person holding a signed copy of M. Leona Godin’s There Plant Eyes: A Personal and Cultural History of Blindness behind their back. The book’s cover, with its large serif lettering, is prominently displayed, along with raised braille dots across the lower portion. The person’s fingers curl around the book’s bottom edge, creating an intimate, tactile portrait of the object.
By Grayson Dantzic.