Michael Putnam New York, New York, b. 1937

Between the mid-1960s to the 1970s, Michael Putnam photographed people sleeping in public in his black and white series Sleep. In the latter years which he developed this series, he suddenly no longer saw people sleeping in public places, and asked himself, “had they disappeared or was I no longer seeing them?” His statement refers to the fact that whether or not we are aware, there are always people who may find themselves in the vulnerable position of sleeping in public. In this photograph taken in Oakland, California, a man sleeping on a bench, possibly waiting for the bus, is almost overtaken by the bold graphics of the “92” and line drawing of someone we presume is Bob Chez. The energy of the man in the line drawing, speaking on the radio, is a stark contrast to the resting man on the bench. It is a clever example of the way the graphics of the urban environment interact with us on a daily basis.