About

Barbara J. Distler is a self-taught photographer in New York City. She has been shooting photos since she was fifteen years old and first saw the inner mechanisms of a single lens reflex camera. For years, she was a darkroom photographer. She still shoots most of her work on film.

Distler has always considered herself a street photographer and much of her work aims to document and celebrate street culture, both locally and overseas. She shoots only candids and is committed to a “no filter” approach – she does not enhance the colors or crop the image. Her sole influence was Henri Cartier-Bresson and his emphasis on choosing “the decisive moment” to click the shutter, when various elements in the frame align in a split-second to create a perfect interplay.

For her first two decades as a photographer, Distler used only black-and-white film, which heightened her sensitivity to light, composition, and nuance. More recently she found herself drawn to the vitality of color. She began shooting what she calls her “Quattros”, four-paneled photographs that create abstract patterns while still paying tribute to street culture and daily life. All Quattros are shot on film and created in the camera, bringing with them the distinctive beauty of variability and grain. When the images are digitized, the colors are matched to the original prints and what was in the negative frame is not altered. Film creates unique features for each image, and repetition brings forth a visual rhythm, transforming the subject matter.

Barbara J. Distler’s work has been exhibited in over 25 individual and group shows, both in New York and nationally. She is the recipient of two individual artist grants, one from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and another from the American Turkish Society. Her photos have been commissioned and purchased for residential spaces, commercial properties, and private collections. She has taught photography and art to college students and children and has lived in two countries as a photographer. She previously interned at the International Center of Photography in New York City. She is a born-and-raised New Yorker who currently works and resides in Manhattan.