Tranquil escape from the city's cacophony
Tod Papageorge isn't a name to forget. But only now has the Yale Professor of Photography - who mentored some of today's biggest stars including Gregory Crewsdon, and who built his reputation on a 1970s documentary about American spectator sports during the Vietnam War - emerged at the age of 67 from his academic cocoon with this unfashionably low-key study of New York's Central Park from 1969 to 1991.
A quiet observation in an "Eden" with such a violent reputation, the slow-burning set of images possess a subtle theatricality and intrigue, with occasional references to the world beyond in the distant fences and misty apartment blocks.
Papageorge's Adams and Eves are mostly unaware of his lens: sunbathing, kissing, playing, reading, strolling. A quintessentially narcissistic Adam lies like a fallen statue among diaphanous grasses, while a black man lounges at his chess set, and a couple kiss against a tree.
Papageorge's early work as a "strolling photographer" on New York's streets with Garry Winogrand left its mark, but away from the cacophony, and not driven by Cartier Bresson's need for "decisive moments", Papageorge searched for narratives and occasional mystery - in the man combing a neatly dressed boy's hair, and the blond sun-god cradling a tiny baby.
An infectiously tranquil representation of temporary escape, Papageorge's photographs exert their magic, dissolving all awareness of the King's Road outside.
Until 19 April (020 7352 3649, www.michaelhoppengallery.com).
Tod Papageorge: Passing Through Eden
Michael Hoppen Gallery
Jubilee Place, SW3 3TD
