Would you have known that The Walking Dead‘s Norman Reedus is a photographer? Well I learned that fact when I dropped in at Canon’s PIXMA Pro City Senses Interactive Gallery in New York. The “interactive” term was applied because visitors had to pass through four curtained rooms each with a different sensory theme that hinted at the night’s overall theme described as an “iconic New York landmark”. After smelling sun tan lotion, feeling some sand, tasting cotton candy and hearing the waves, you discovered, if you didn’t guess already, that Canon and their photographers were drawing on historic Coney Island for the event.
Norman Reedus had five prints on display, all full-bleed images direct from PIXMA printers, while the works of two other local photographers, Aaron Warkov and Robin Riley made up the bulk of the exhibit. He was on site to chat with attendees about his images and photography but unsurprisingly, people also asked him about The Walking Dead, which will have its season 4 premiere in a few weeks and make a big showing at NY Comic Con. Having the event a few weeks before the PhotoPlus expo was a bit of a surprise, as it would have made sense to have all the photographers who descend on the city be able to preview the newer PIXMA Pro-10 and Pro-100 printer models (There was a launch for the top of the line, $1000, PIXMA Pro-1 hosted by Herbie Hancock a couple years ago that we covered). Oh well. The media and attendees could still enjoy the images over cocktails. The next City Senses event will be held October 1st in Chicago featuring works by rapper Common and local photographers, Kristyna Archer and Taylor Castle. Then another will be held in San Francisco with Tyler Florence as the host.
(PS – There were some tiny lobster tacos that were super small and I wish I had taken a picture of now.)