Artist in Residence
Photographs By Joshua Charow

Hardcover | 288 Pages | 8.75” x 11.375” | 200 Photographs

Now Available
Orders help fund the continued photography sessions and the creation of short documentaries on each featured artist.

For the past five years, photographer Joshua Charow has been uncovering and documenting New York City’s most unique original artist studios, and the incredible artists who have lived in them for decades. His journey began in 2020, after discovering a map of buildings protected under the 1982 Loft Law. He rang thousands of doorbells in these mysterious industrial buildings, searching for the last remaining artists still living and working within them.

In the early 20th century, New York City was the manufacturing capital of the United States. At its peak in 1947, over one million people worked in the city’s factories. But by 1980, that number had fallen by more than half. Countless industrial buildings were abandoned, still zoned for manufacturing, making residential use illegal. Artists began renting and purchasing these raw, often derelict spaces and transforming them into livable studios to create their artwork in peace.

By 1971, the city was aware of at least 600 artists living illegally in lofts between Houston Street and Canal Street. In response, the city passed the Artist-in-Residence (A.I.R.) law, legalizing occupancy in 1,000 lofts, provided tenants applied and received “artist certification” from a municipal board. Certified artists would mark their buildings with “A.I.R." to alert firefighters that people were actually living inside the building in the case of an emergency. If you’re lucky, you can still spot a few A.I.R. signs chipping away on a building facade, left behind from an earlier chapter in New York City.

After three years, Charow made the photography and accompanying video series chronicling these spaces and the artists who inhabit them public. The response was overwhelming. Hundreds of artists who have lived in their lofts since the 1960s, their family members, and friends reached out to Charow. Over the past two years, Charow has continued to photograph these individuals and their remarkable studios, preserving a vanishing world of art and history.

Expanding beyond the original Loft Law buildings, Charow has now documented artists living in AIR buildings, former factories, flophouses, ferries, and other unconventional spaces, each one a testament to the artistic spirit that has shaped New York. This book is the newest and largest collection of photographs from Charow’s artist studio project. The book features an introduction by Charow, followed by 200 of his photographs of artists in the most imaginative and unique studio spaces in New York City.

Artist in Residence is the follow-up to Charow’s best-selling debut, Loft Law: The Last of New York City’s Original Artist Lofts, which topped Amazon’s photojournalism charts and was featured in CNN, New York Magazine, The Guardian, Financial Times, Cultured Magazine, Highsnobiety, Artnet, Yatzer, World of Interiors, Business Insider, Apollo Magazine, Esquire, and more. Charow’s documentary series has garnered over 50 million views and continues to spotlight the stories of the artists shaping New York.

The front cover features Carmen Cicero. The back cover features Nina Klymowska and Jay Ells.

Book Design by Margaret Bauer

Text Edited by Czar Van Gaal

Please note that all sales are final. Please allow up to 10 days for your order to be shipped. If you have any questions or need assistance, please email air@joshuacharow.com.