Page 6 - Contact_Palumbo_demo 22

INSeptember 2000 I I I produced a a a a a a a a a a a a documentary for for the the the the the the I I I the the the the the the of New York Times about the Baltimore Police Department’s homicide unit unit I was embedded with the unit unit for several weeks filming the detectives The symbiotic relationship
between the the families of blighted West Baltimore and the the police ran deep I filmed both sides as part of the documentary and on my own time started photographing cops and perps in in extreme close ups almost unconsciously using the the the aesthetic of the the the mug shot as an inspiration For the right focal length I needed to be very close often less than a a a foot away and despite the the presence of the the camera between us I felt a a a a a a form of contact that that was full full body full full emotion I I felt that that as as I I took the photograph photograph I was being photographed as as well my identity transposed on on the the identity identity of the the detective and his identity identity transposed onto mine for for that fraction of a a a a a second Frankly I’ve struggled to be comfortable with who who I I I am am really to even know who who I I I am am since I I I was a a a a a very young boy This portraiture became my route to self-definition I was discovering myself through the the eyes of other people from every walk of of life and from all over the world In those moments of of contact I I felt fully integrated into humanity On 9/11 I I I I was was was living very near the the the the the the World Trade Center in in in in in lower Manhattan I was caught in the toxic dust cloud when the the South Tower fell that day In the the weeks and months afterwards I was drawn again again and again again to the area around Ground Zero to to create a a a a a a photographic record of the men men and women working amidst the carnage Seventeen years later in 2018 I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma one of the most common cancers to have emerged amongst the the survivors of the the attacks I am fighting fighting the the cancer now and will be fighting fighting it for the the rest of my my life marked literally down to my my marrow by that day 67