Tearsheet Time Capsule: NYSE Annual Report 1986

I was still working nights as a waiter in 1986-7 while plying my photo-craft during the days. I was happily straddling making my fine art while trying to get some high profile jobs with my collage style. The NYSE Annual Report was a big break. Ever grateful to Alisa Zamir at the corporate design firm of Taylor & Ives for taking a chance on me, because really I had no business being there(!) These collages, though made of hundreds of frames, are really a one-shot experience; there is virtually no opportunity for screw-ups. I would calculate one exposure setting for all the film, and if it was under or over exposed, it could result in a wipeout. There was no second exposure. Same is true for any people/activity in any frame; you get what you get. Basically I got lucky. I did have an opportunity to do a test of (my first) daytime to nighttime transition collage, which was fortunate because my original concept did not work. In the globe photo collage (photographed in the glorious Art-Deco lobby of the Daily News Building on East 42nd Street, NYC) I handily peopled it with my dear friends Jerald Frampton, Laura Salmon, Francine Fleischer, and Paula Kelly. (Thanks for not blinking everybody). The floor of the Stock Exchange was absolute madness, with traders on more than one occasion almost knocking me over as they ran. It all worked out well, NYSE loved it, and I thought to myself: ‘Damn I’m set! Can’t wait to do next years report!’ Then…. CRASH. All of a sudden the glorious extravagant production of the 86 Annual Report was landing on the freshly humbled desks of a crashed 87 economy…. ‘So, um, what about next year? I asked sheepishly.’ ‘Dave, I don’t even think we are going to use photography and may just do it on newsprint. Extravagance is out, spartan restraint is in….’ Something like that. Funny thing is, Annual Reports do not really have to be anything but numbers on newsprint, they evolved in quality and style in a kind of vain design arms race between corporations, creating a new economy for artists, designers and photographers. Thank God. As the recession receded I branched out I got more similar work, but wow, what an unexpected start!

DOWNTOWN PANORAMA – Photo contact print – Client: New York Stock Exchange

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David McGlynn

David McGlynn is an artist living and working in New York City and Beverly, MA. Born and raised in the Bronx, NY, he received a BFA from SUNY Purchase in 1979.  Mr. McGlynn enjoys success as both a fine art photographer and as a professional commercial photographer. His specialty is photo collage, and he has been refining his unique style for the better part of three decades. He has shown his work at several group and solo shows, including the Alternative Museum, Queens Museum, Hudson River Museum, Luring Augustine Gallery, the Neuberger Museum and Broadway Windows. His work is included in the collections of the Brooklyn Museum, the Erie Art Museum, the New Britain Museum of American Art, the Forbes Gallery Collection, and various private collections. In addition, he has created large-scale works for permanent installation for a variety of clients, including Disney/ESPN Zone restaurants, Fox Network headquarters, and AT&T Corporate Headquarters.  His work has appeared in publications including WIRED, Newsweek, Time, Money, Forbes, Vibe, ESPN, New York Times, Traveler, Popular Science and Metropolitan Home. Corporate and advertising clients include Miller Brewing Company, ‘Absolut McGlynn’ for Absolut Vodka, Kodak Funsaver cameras, Compaq, American Express, Disney, Dime Bank, Polygram/Mercury Records, and the World Financial Center. Mr. McGlynn has received several awards including: American Photography Annual 7, 10, 11, 35; Society of Publication Designers Annual 18, 23, 27, 28 and 30; Graphis Poster and Graphis Digital. Portfolio spreads of his artwork have been published in: Life Magazine, Popular Photography, Idea (Japan), Photo Magazine (France), and Photo District News.