Spano, Michael. Time Frames: City Pictures by Michael Spano.

powerHouse, 2002, 1st ed., 1st printing. Introduction by Susan Kismaric, Curator, Department of Photography, Museum of Modern Art. [Street photography in New York City.]   ISBN 1-57687-140-1. Not to be confused with later reprints that have a different cover. Issued at $45. 

Michael Spano (born 1949) is an American photographer, curator, and educator recognized for his innovative, large-format experimental street photography and formal investigation of public urban space. Born in New York, Spano earned a BA from Queens College and an MFA from Yale University, after which he served for nearly two decades as the director and curator of the Midtown Y Photography Gallery in New York City. Employing continuous-exposure cameras, custom wide-angle setups, solarization, photograms, and double exposures, Spano creates dynamic, sequence-driven gelatin silver prints that capture the kinetic energy, architecture, and multifaceted human presence of street life. His work has been widely published in monographs such as Time Frames (2002) and Auto Portraits (2009), exhibited in prominent galleries, and acquired for major permanent public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Brooklyn Museum.

Published in 2002 by powerHouse Books, Time Frames: City Pictures is the first monograph by American contemporary photographer Michael Spano. Featuring an introduction by Susan Kismaric (then-curator of photography at the Museum of Modern Art), the book compiles over two decades of work (1977–1999) documenting street life in New York City.

The monograph is defined by Spano’s signature blend of rigorous, experimental darkroom and in-camera techniques applied to the spontaneous, unpredictable nature of the urban environment. The book is organized into five distinct chapters, each utilizing a specific technical process to deconstruct time and space:

• Panoramas (1977–1983): Features elongated compositions of New York city-dwellers, captured using an extremely wide-field camera that panned across the scene during exposure.

• Grids (1980–1990): Captures sequential narrative arcs by recording eight distinct moments on a single negative. Spano exposed a different section of the grid every four seconds as events unfolded on the street.

• Portraits (1984–1990): Focuses on close-up street portraiture where individuals are visually isolated from their chaotic backgrounds through atmospheric blurring and the use of solarization.

• Multi-Exposures (1985–1998): Combines multiple viewpoints and solarization onto single negatives, compressing different intervals of time and perspectives into layered, complex imagery.

• Diptychs (1998–1999): Joins two entirely separate moments and urban spaces onto one negative, creating a dialogue between shifting scales, perspectives, and focal planes.

Copies available, all hardcover:

• New in original shrink wrap.
• Near fine with protected dust jacket.
• Very good, like new except scuff at base of spine of protected dust jacket.