The Photography Show by AIPAD

Polka Gallery is delighted to participate in The Photography Show presented by AIPAD, organized by the Association of International Photography Art Dealers, which will be held at the Park Avenue Armory in New York from April 22 to 26, 2026. For this edition, the gallery has chosen to devote its booth to the street, a founding territory in the history of photography and a privileged space for observing social, cultural, and urban transformations.

The journey naturally begins in New York, with a dialogue between two leading figures in color photography, Joel Meyerowitz and Steve McCurry. Taken between the 1970s and 1990s, their images bear witness to a decisive moment in the history of color. This collection is punctuated by two black-and-white icons by Elliott Erwitt, whose subtle humor and precision of vision continue to shape our perception of public space.

The New York street scene continues with Bruce Gilden’s “Lost and Found” series. These early images already herald the direct and instinctive approach that would make his work so unique: a direct face-to-face encounter with passers-by, with an energy reminiscent of William Klein’s 1950s New York, notably with his now iconic image, Gun 1.

This exploration of the urban and human landscape is complemented by Langdon Clay’s New York facades and portraits of Cadillac and Dodge cars, images that have become emblematic of an urban America that has now almost disappeared.

The gallery also presents an exceptional collection of Sebastião Salgado’s very first photographs, taken in the streets of Paris in 1975. This unpublished and rarely shown collection offers a valuable insight into the photographer’s early career and already reveals his attention to the human dynamics that traverse urban space.

Echoing these great historical figures, the stand finally opens up to contemporary practices that renew the approach to the street and the outdoors. The works of Thomas Dhellemmes, the tea-extracted prints of Mikael Siirilä and Miho Kajioka, and the pictorial interventions of Eloïse Labarbe-Lafon testify to a new generation of artists who explore the very materiality of the image.

Finally, as a counterpoint to this urban energy, Shelby Lee Adams presents his iconic image The Prior Brothers. This large-format portrait of the famous Appalachian brothers introduces a silent, almost spiritual presence, a form of suspension in the face of the constant movement of the street.

Through this collection, the gallery offers a cross-disciplinary perspective between major figures in the history of photography and new contemporary approaches, revealing the street as one of the most fertile territories of photography, both yesterday and today.