CHILDREN PLAYING BY MONUMENT NYC 1980 Gelatin Silver Photograph

This original 5 x 7 inch black and white photograph was taken and developed by Thomas Schmidler in New York City in 1980. The candid street image shows three children gathered at the base of a large stone monument. One child hangs playfully from the ledge, another makes a peace sign gesture above her head, while the third leans close in conversation, capturing a spontaneous moment of youthful energy against the weight of a historic structure.

Thomas Schmidler (1933–1991), a fine-art photographer and printmaker, developed each of his photographs in a traditional darkroom. His work often juxtaposes the innocence and liveliness of people—especially children—against the permanence of the city’s architecture. This genuine vintage gelatin silver print is both an artistic study of contrasts and a warm documentation of everyday New York life in 1980.

This is an original 1980 photograph taken and developed by my dad, Thomas Alan Schmidler in his darkroom.