Image Gallery

Artist's Statement

A Walk Down Park Street represents a collection of Jack McConnell’s photographs that capture the essence of Park Street, through Frog Hollow and Parkville from Main to Prospect. It’s the exuberant commercial spine of a working class neighborhood representing 20 Latino cultures from the Caribbean, Central and South America.

Each image in this exhibit represents a fraction of a second, a simple slice of life in the midst of a cultural melting pot. For 400 years, Hartford has welcomed immigrants, from Dutch adventurers who sailed up the Connecticut River in 1624, to the French, Italian, Irish, German and Scandinavians who worked in Victorian-era factories, building Pratt & Whitney machines, Colt firearms, Columbia bicycles, Remington typewriters, and Pope electric cars. The Latino population today comes for the same reason—freedom and a better life for their families.

McConnell uses 400mm and 500mm lenses to isolate details of the neighborhood, capturing the vibrant Caribbean color palette of the streetscape---filigreed iron railings, painted porch furbelows, and rambunctious after-dark activity seen through storefront windows. His digital Canon 5D enables him to focus at low light levels, shooting lampposts, traffic and nightlife.

As he concentrates on street portraits, McConnell finds residents generous about sharing their energy, letting him see their self-confidence, peace, and worries. They seem to say, “Here I am, I exist, I’m OK, or I’m not OK.” In one photo a young woman throws her hands into the air in a celebratory gesture, yelling, “Hey, Mr. Photographer, take my picture.”

The ArtWalk is made possible through the generosity of donors, especially the Beatrice Fox Auerbach Foundation Fund at Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.

Artist's Reception

Please join us on April 13, 2012 (6 p.m.– 8 p.m.) to celebrate this new exhibition in the ArtWalk at Hartford Public Library, located in the heart of the city at 500 Main Street.


About the ArtWalk

ArtWalk at Hartford Public Library offers one of the largest and most stunning exhibition spaces in greater Hartford and the opportunity for visitors to view art in a magnificent setting in their own community.  The state-of-the art gallery rises above Main Street along a glass wall that floods the space with ambient light during the day and appears to glow as a jewel box at night. Exhibitions offer an array of art experiences that reflect a variety of media, styles, and cultures in the art world, providing diverse viewing experiences, and allowing for many tastes.  Because of the unusual cable system in place, one of the most unique aspects of the ArtWalk is that any wall and lighting configuration or arrangement can change with the nature of every new exhibition.  The ArtWalk is made possible through the generosity of donors, especially the Beatrice Fox Auerbach Foundation Fund at Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.