(Watch the video at the end of this description to learn more about this project)

You may already know Roger Higgins’ photographs. You just may not know his name.

For more than two decades, my grandfather, Roger Higgins, was one of the main photographers documenting New York as it changed before his lens. From 1946 to 1967, he served as a head photographer for the New York World-Telegram & The Sun, capturing the people, places, personalities, and moments that defined New York City and the surrounding communities.

He photographed celebrities like Salvador Dalí, artists like Charles Schulz, politicians, performers, architecture, everyday New Yorkers, major historical events, the New York World’s Fair, Coney Island, and so much more. His photographs are part of the visual record of a city and its surrounding communities that no longer exist in quite the same way.

And yet, Roger Higgins himself remains largely unknown.

His professional photographic archive has been held at the Library of Congress since 1967, where much of it has remained unprocessed and unseen. At the same time, his personal collection contains photographs that have been hidden from public view for more than sixty years.

I want to change that.

Roger was my grandfather—and one of my greatest artistic inspirations. He died before I was born, so I never had the chance to know him. But through his photographs, I have discovered a way to begin that conversation across generations.

I am raising funds to create an exhibition that brings Roger’s work back into the world and places it in dialogue with my own photography.

I've been returning to the places Roger photographed decades ago and photographing them again today. The exhibition will present these images side by side: "Sixty Years Apart". Two photographers separated by three generations, and communities and surroundings connected through time, showing how they have evolved, changed, or disappeared.

Alongside Roger’s historical photographs, the exhibition will feature selections from his personal collection that have not been publicly seen for more than sixty years, as well as photographs from his professional archive at the Library of Congress.

This is more than an art exhibition. It is an effort to preserve a forgotten chapter of New York history. It is an opportunity to introduce a new generation to the people and places Roger documented. But for me, it is a way to finally get to know the man I never had the opportunity to meet.

Why Your Support Matters

Bringing an exhibition like this to life takes more than photographs. Funds raised will help cover exhibition production, printing and presentation materials, installation, marketing, educational and community outreach, and the work required to make Roger’s archive accessible to the public... finally.

Your contribution will help bring these photographs out of storage and back into the community where they belong.

Every donation—large or small—helps make this project possible. Your support doesn't simply fund an exhibition; it helps preserve and share a piece of our collective history.

And if you aren't able to donate, sharing this fundraiser can be just as meaningful. The more people who learn about Roger and his work, the greater the chance that these photographs can reach the audience they deserve.

I believe Roger’s photographs still have something important to say. They tell stories about New York, about the people who lived here, and about a world that has largely been erased. I want to make sure those stories aren't lost.

Help me honor a remarkable photographer, preserve a piece of New York’s history, and create a bridge between the places Roger documented more than half a century ago and the places we know today.

Thank you for believing in this project, for helping preserve our shared history, and for giving Roger’s photographs—and his legacy—the opportunity to be seen again.

To learn more, click Sixty Years Apart - The Exhibition

See Roger's Artwork by following the Facebook page: Roger Higgins NY Photographer