Zine #38

I can only assume the viewer learned everything he, she or they know about Baltimore from The Wire, John Waters movies, and maybe during the time after Freddie Gray was alive, was arrested by the BPD and then he was dead. Funny thing is that you wouldn’t be so far off the perception. Of course, media accounts are off, all those burnt or boarded up buildings that you may have attribited to ‘The Uprising’ were there before it ever started, not a result of. I walk these streets and I feel safe by day, but generally don’t do it at night in some areas because of poverty and what comes with it. By day it’s these areas that are where the life and vibrancy is. I’m drawn to it’s energy.

Baltimore is undoubtedly quirky a la Waters and likely more FRFR than your city. People don’t ask “What do you do for a living?” here, except in the dumb parts, I assume. Creativity grows from the cracked pavements because you can afford to be an artist here. There are two degrees of separation at worst between anyone who embraces this city. It’s a place where ‘real recognize real’. The benches may say “Baltimore: The Greatest City in America”, but it’s spirit lies in the underground teeshirt that states, “Baltimore vs. Y’all Whores”. I love my city because through the collective trauma, it keeps it’s love. I hope my photographs translate that.

-Larry Cohen, September 2020

Published by Bump Books
Edited by David Solomons
Publication date: November 2020
Size: 210mm x 148mm
Cover: uncoated 170gsm digital
Text: uncoated 120gsm digital
Pages: 32
Images: 24
Printed in the UK
Edition of 200

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