Michael Ackerman’s Homesick New York is a deeply personal meditation on memory, belonging, and the enduring pull of his home town. Returning to New York City after a long absence, the artist sets out on quiet wanderings through the streets, parks, and subways of a city both familiar and transformed. What emerges is a body of work shaped by intuition and empathy — a series of intimate encounters with strangers with whom Ackerman shares a mysterious emotional connection. Each portrait is the result of silent recognition, shared presence, and mutual vulnerability.
Rather than documenting the city itself, Homesick New York turns toward an inner map of longing. The artist gravitates to individuals and spaces that carry the aura of dislocation, fragility, and quiet strength. Shot on analogue film using a variety of formats and processes, the photographs are imbued with a tactile richness and temporal softness that evoke fleeting memories — as though we are catching glimpses of something beloved that is already fading away. Diptychs, triptychs, and subtle sequences add rhythm to the narrative, revealing layers of meaning and emotion that unfold slowly, like a dream half remembered.
