Charif Benhelima: Harlem on my mind — I was, I am

Living in Harlem from 1999–2002, Belgian‑Moroccan photographer Charif Benhelima creates this personal and powerful document of Harlem, degraded and almost deserted, a landscape of spattered walls, shadowy figures, dirty streets and battered buildings. Using Polaroid 600 film and camera (and occasionally a red filter), the photographer composes works that speak to the continuing condition of African Americans in today's United States.

This book was published on the occasion of the exhibition 'Charif Benhelima: Harlem on my mind', which was held at Galerie Michael Janssen, Berlin from 4 February 2011 till 5 March 2011.