"In the early 1970's I had my first photo studio in a skylit kitchen in
"the Roof" of
the old Bradford Hotel on Tremont Street at the edge of the Combat Zone. I
had just completed studying photography with Minor White in Cambridge and
was drawn to the relentless energy in urban streets both in Boston and in New
York City. I always had a camera at the ready and it seemed as though my
presence was for the most part welcomed.
I have always been interested in areas of transition, edge cultures,
and the Combat Zone provided me with a window into a world of decadence set
against relics and artifacts of a much older Boston, a city that has always
resonated with me.
The streets were energized, chaotic and the small clubs that ran along
Washington Street beckoned patrons with their provocative neon signs.
It seems as though in our post Combat Zone era things have relocated to the
internet but in 1975-1978 when I photographed there, the Combat Zone was in
plain view, right out in the streets. It never slept."
John Goodman
Interviewed by Boston Magazine December 10th, 2009
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