Here Down on Dark Earth

Larry Racioppo (Photographs By) Larry Racioppo, born in South Brooklyn in 1947, has been documenting New York City through his lens since 1971. His work is featured in the collections of the Museum of the City of New York, the Brooklyn Museum, the New York Public Library, the Brooklyn Public Library, El Museo del Barrio, and the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. His previous books include Coney Island Baby, B-Ball NYC, and Brooklyn Before: Photographs, 1971-1983. Learn more at www.larryracioppo.com. Clifford Thompson (Text By) Clifford Thompson is an award-winning Brooklyn-based writer and artist. His works include What It Is, exploring racial and personal identity. Thompson has received the Whiting Writers' Award and his essay "La Boheme" was selected for the Pushcart Prize Anthology. He contributes to major publications, teaches creative nonfiction, and exhibits his paintings at New York's Blue Mountain Gallery. Jan Ramirez (Text By) Jan Ramirez has been the Chief Curator and Director of Collections at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum since 2006, where she oversees the preservation and interpretation of artifacts that memorialize the September 11 attacks and their aftermath.

Here Down on Dark Earth is a brilliant book, equal parts heartbreak and beauty. With an abundance of elegance and grace, Larry Racioppo has captured the ways in which New Yorkers grieve, how the memories of their loved ones are preserved, and how the dead go on living in this city long after they're gone. I will not soon forget these photographs.---Said Sayrafiezadeh, author of American Estrangement Death is an unavoidable reality, that we all will inevitably face. Though our way of honoring one's passing may differ according to our culture, race, creed or religion, the pain of losing someone can be devastating and life-changing. Larry Racioppo's poignant photographs and words give life to those who are no longer physically present.---Jamel Shabazz, Photographer Larry Racioppo's photographs remind us of the deep human desire to remember the departed. With an unerring eye he captures diverse memorials created by New Yorkers on city streets that endure as powerful expressions of loss and love. Take a walk with Racioppo's Here Down on Dark Earth and discover a New York you probably never really noticed before.---Deborah Dash Moore, author of Walkers in the City: Jewish Street Photographers of Midcentury New York Larry Racioppo's photographs take you to the heart of the commemorative impulse -- its diverse expressions and the passion behind them. The commission of official memorials should start here.---Harriet F. Senie, author of Monumental Controversies: Mount Rushmore, Four Presidents, and Our Quest for National Identity