The Vale of Cashmere

Art

Skool
Art is not a thing, it is a way.

Photographer Thomas Roma's new book In the Vale of Cashmere is a series of hauntingly beautiful black-and-white portraits taken in the wooded cruising grounds of Brooklyn's Prospect Park - known as the Vale of Cashmere - and is dedicated to Roma's close friend Carl Spinella, who could often be found in the Vale before dying in Roma's arms of an AIDS-related illness in 1992.

“These brilliant photographs, capturing the dialectic between desire and disappointment, anxiety, and comfort, ultimately remind us of our own continuous rites of passage as human beings. Roma’s photographs are truly saving graces,” says Henry Louis Gates, Jr., director of African-American research at Harvard University, says of Roma’s work.

In addition to the book, Roma's pictures can also be seen at Thomas Roma: In the Vale of Cashmere, on view from 29th October until 19th December at the Steven Kasher Gallery, 515 W. 26th St., New York, NY 10001.

KAOS
on
Facebook.

KAOS
on
Twitter.

KAOS
on
Tumblr.

Unless otherwise stated, KAOS does not claim credit for any of images featured on our site. The copyright of all images remains with their respectful owners. If you own rights to any of the featured images, and object to their appearance here, please get in touch.