ABOUT

Roswitha Hecke met the then 41-year-old detective Roy Finer in New York at the end of 1979 through the writers Wolf Wondratschek and Nelson Algren. The photographer and the police officer became friends. She accompanied him during the day and after work, visiting his favorite bar and his girlfriend with him. Roy Finer's life seems to correspond to the cliché of the American film police officer: crime, violence, weapons, and loneliness.

Roswitha Hecke recorded Roy Finer's day in seemingly unspectacular images. With an unerring eye for framing and detail, Roswitha Hecke created photographs of incredible authenticity that give the viewer a sense of the time and Roy Finer's job. The images evoke emotions and associations; they are living history. They reflect the past, which, in addition to their artistic quality, enhances the character of the photographs as contemporary documents.