Getting Old and Getting Out
In New York City
byHerb Bardavid

I have been passionate about photography since I was twelve years old when I would lock my family out of our only bathroom and use it as my darkroom.  Since then, I have taken courses in photography and darkroom techniques at Projects Incorporated in Cambridge, MA., a school started by Minor White, the New School; School of Visual Arts; The International Center of Photography in New York City, and two one-week workshops at the Graduate School of Journalism at City College of  New York.  I have taken photographic seminars in Ecuador,  Peru, Cuba, and Marseilles, France.

I have had eleven shows, my first in Cambridge, MA. in 1969: the Third Eye Gallery in New York City; two shows in Great Neck, NY.; a group show at the Umbrella Arts Gallery and a group show at Baboo Photography, both in New York City; and two solo shows at the Photographer's Place in Williston Park, NY.  and recently at the Barcelona International Arts Museu Martim de Barcelona, Sala Gran. Spain and the Grimandi Art Gallery in New York City.

I have won several awards, including 1st place at the Long Island Photography Club for my photograph of Grand Central Terminal.  I have been a juror selection recipient several times from the New York Center for Photographic Art.  I have been published in the Gotham Gazette, PDN Photo Magazine, and Shots Magazine.  I currently write two blogs - Getting Old and Getting Out in New York City, in which I interview and photograph older adults, and Concrete Pillows, in which I interview and photograph homeless people on the streets of New York City.  Getting Old and Getting Out has been featured on CBS News, NBC digital news, and Patch News, as well as a Japanese News station based in New York City that broadcasts in Tokyo, Japan.  

I am a licensed clinical social worker and a 1972 graduate of Adelphi University School of Social Work.  I have been the Assistant Director at Parent-Child Project, a domestic violence abuse program for Family Services Association of Nassau County, and the Director of Social Work at Central General Hospital in Plainview, NY. And currently in private practice.  I currently reside in Manhattan.  As a psychotherapist, I see things that others may not.  I view the world and its people through my own set of lenses, both in the therapy chair and with my camera.  I enable people to see and hear their stories, seeking change.