Brian Rose – LAST STOP

Review by Melanie Chapman ·

Brain Rose is an accomplished photographer, but he is also a masterful magician. Not in the pull a rabbit out of a hat sense, but rather in the make order out of chaos and pull forth sounds and smells from still images version of magic. This is a skill he has demonstrated in previous publications that focus on the topography of specific places such the failed Trump casinos in ATLANTIC CITY, and the covid-era defaced confederate statues in his home state of Virginia depicted in MONUMENT AVENUE. Rose’s most recent book LAST STOP maintains his documentary style of image making combined with his characteristic long-term commitment to concept and place.

As described in his introduction, Rose spent one year traveling to the farthest points of the New York City subway system, conducting extensive research ahead of time yet seeing each location with fresh eyes and a spontaneous shutter. This well-presented publication by Circa Press takes the viewer to the end of the line in each of the five boroughs: Brooklyn, The Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, and State Island. In so doing, Rose shares not only the visual cacophony of unfettered capitalism with an ethnic mélange twist that one would expect in such a diversely populated city as New York ( Go Knicks!!!), but he also provides numerous surprises along the way. Who knew that rolling green lawns and gable roof houses set on cherry blossom streets still exist only a few miles (and a ferry ride away) from Ground Zero in lower Manhattan? Or that en route to JFK Airport, the A train passes through areas of Howard Beach comprised of canals and stilt houses one might think belonged in the bayous of Louisiana?

Rose has an eye for color and gift for composition and is able to make the trash lined “mishmash” along train tracks and boulevards seem like inevitable and important elements within his frame. Bright while clouds dance against sharp blue skies, hinting at the former beauty of the natural landscape once abundant in this lower region of New York state. Through his lens, Rose works his magic such that the towering steel and concrete landscapes that dominate over still existent brick churches somehow makes sense, and reminds us that yes, a tree still grows in Brooklyn, and in Harlem and Queens too.

The text which accompanies many of the full-page photographs provide context not only to the scene which Rose documents, but also some history of the places and people who inhabit them, and offers the viewer a sense of riding along with Rose during his yearlong expedition, exploring the diverse and sometimes overwhelming beauty of such a storied and special place. Like New York itself, not everything is pretty, lots of it is gritty, development can push out old customs and customers and that can feel kinda sh*tty, but there is great value in celebrating the good the bad and even the touristic-fication of New York City, a town like no other. Hop on and join Brian Rose on this uniquely seen journey, it’s worth however much subway fares now cost. Stare out the subway window by gazing into his frame. LAST STOP is worth the ride.

Contributing Editor Melanie Chapman is a photographer based in Southern California.

____________

Brian Rose – LAST STOP

Photographer: Brian Rose

Publisher: Circa Press 2025

Text: Brian Rose

Design: April

Printed in China

Production: Dexter Premedia

Hard Cover; stitched binding; 156 Color images; 195 pages; 11.81 x 10.24 inches; ISBN: 978-1-911422-51-8

____________

Articles and photographs published in the PhotoBook Journal may not be reproduced without the permission of the PhotoBook Journal staff and the photographer(s). All images, texts, and designs are under copyright by the authors and publishers.