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The Regulars
A bartender-photographer trains her eye on the patrons at McGlinchey's bar
It's four o'clock in the afternoon and the regulars start to file into the perpetual twilight of a downtown bar in Philadelphia. Bartender Sarah Stolfa pours out the drinks then picks up her camera.
McGlinchey's is a haven for drinkers from all walks of You'll meet the rebellious college student with pink-streaked hair and a bottle of hangover-inducing brew; the sharply dressed businessman with a yearning look; the pensive loner carefully ignoring his newspaper and bag of chips; and the former prom king with his tie and V-neck sweater, double fisting a shot and a beer.
The urban bar experience is brought to life in these pages, topped off with an introduction written by best-selling author Jonathan Franzen and Stolfa's own meditations on finding her inspiration while tending bar. For young hipsters, grizzled old-timers, and everyone in between, The Regulars is as elegant as an Old Master painting and as down-home as a bottle of Bud.
It's four o'clock in the afternoon and the regulars start to file into the perpetual twilight of a downtown bar in Philadelphia. Bartender Sarah Stolfa pours out the drinks then picks up her camera.
McGlinchey's is a haven for drinkers from all walks of You'll meet the rebellious college student with pink-streaked hair and a bottle of hangover-inducing brew; the sharply dressed businessman with a yearning look; the pensive loner carefully ignoring his newspaper and bag of chips; and the former prom king with his tie and V-neck sweater, double fisting a shot and a beer.
The urban bar experience is brought to life in these pages, topped off with an introduction written by best-selling author Jonathan Franzen and Stolfa's own meditations on finding her inspiration while tending bar. For young hipsters, grizzled old-timers, and everyone in between, The Regulars is as elegant as an Old Master painting and as down-home as a bottle of Bud.
93 pages, Hardcover
First published June 22, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 24, 2023
Extraordinarily ordinary
June 17, 2023
I discovered "The Regulars," a book of remarkable color photographic portraits taken by a bartender in her bar, after reading Jonathan Franzen's introduction to Stolfa's book as reprinted in his most recent book of essays. Each portrait is marvelous. Each is a short story, perhaps a personal memoir, waiting to be written. It's a book I have returned to again and again, each time considering the lives she brings to us.
Highly recommended!
Highly recommended!
February 19, 2017
Back in the mid 2000s, a photographer bartended at a dive bar in downtown Philadelphia. She served her customers beer, whisky or wine, and then took their picture. The result is a series of portraits that beautifully and honestly tell the story of the city of brotherly love, and in turn, America's. The stories, the portraits and the wonder they convey is found in The Regulars by Sarah Stofla.
The patrons at McGlinchey's bar, where Sarah bartended, came from every walk of life. They were black, white and every color in between. They were old, young or too young to look that old. They were mostly exhausted, forlorn or anxious, much like the country at the time.
The book doesn't have much prose in it since the complete story is told by these portraits, proving once again the age old adage, "a picture is worth a thousand words."
The book made me wonder about how different the collective story would have been had Sarah taken these portraits in a dive bar in Los Angeles, San Francisco or Dallas. How about London, Madrid or Tel Aviv What would have the common theme been?
The book has definitely renewed my respect for portrait photography and the simplicity of storytelling that Stolfa does so well. Definitely worth checking out.
The patrons at McGlinchey's bar, where Sarah bartended, came from every walk of life. They were black, white and every color in between. They were old, young or too young to look that old. They were mostly exhausted, forlorn or anxious, much like the country at the time.
The book doesn't have much prose in it since the complete story is told by these portraits, proving once again the age old adage, "a picture is worth a thousand words."
The book made me wonder about how different the collective story would have been had Sarah taken these portraits in a dive bar in Los Angeles, San Francisco or Dallas. How about London, Madrid or Tel Aviv What would have the common theme been?
The book has definitely renewed my respect for portrait photography and the simplicity of storytelling that Stolfa does so well. Definitely worth checking out.
November 7, 2010
i hadn't bought a photo book in a long time. i've got a modest collection of 100+ photo books. I saw this one. done. you should buy this book. put it on your coffee table. people will be like "awesome, where did you find this." and you'll be like "oh, i buy photo books from time to time. would you like some more coffee?"
sarah stolfa's essay is great. i wonder what she will do next? she's not a bartender anymore. these photos were taken while she was a bartender. and she had her camera with her. . . she explains all of this in her essay.
with blurbs on the back of the book by richard ford, jay mcinerney, and jonathan franzen, well you get it: your coffee will taste better.
spoiler: contains lots of photos of people sitting at a bar in Philadelphia. it is NOT somewhere outside of London.
i'd like to go to that bar and record some audio for my photosdie.com. or i'd rather have some audio from when these photos were made. sarah stolfa: did you record audio when you took these photos? let me know.
sarah stolfa's essay is great. i wonder what she will do next? she's not a bartender anymore. these photos were taken while she was a bartender. and she had her camera with her. . . she explains all of this in her essay.
with blurbs on the back of the book by richard ford, jay mcinerney, and jonathan franzen, well you get it: your coffee will taste better.
spoiler: contains lots of photos of people sitting at a bar in Philadelphia. it is NOT somewhere outside of London.
i'd like to go to that bar and record some audio for my photosdie.com. or i'd rather have some audio from when these photos were made. sarah stolfa: did you record audio when you took these photos? let me know.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 12, 2010
When I checked our library catalog to see if the upcoming Jonathan Franzen novel was listed yet (it wasn't), I found this book of photos instead (Franzen wrote the intro). I liked his intro, but the photos by Sarah Stolfa -- WOW.
Stolfa worked as a bartender in Philadelphia for years before getting interested in photography. She began shooting portraits of her regulars and they are stunning. Each photo feels like the visual equivalent of a very rich short story to me.
If you are even remotely interested in photographic portraits or have ever been a bartender or a regular at a bar, you should check out this book.
Stolfa worked as a bartender in Philadelphia for years before getting interested in photography. She began shooting portraits of her regulars and they are stunning. Each photo feels like the visual equivalent of a very rich short story to me.
If you are even remotely interested in photographic portraits or have ever been a bartender or a regular at a bar, you should check out this book.
February 8, 2016
I liked the Humans of New York so I was curious about this title. By the third vignette I was hooked!
Snippets of folks lives as they describe their relationship to the place where they would call themselves a 'regular'. It made me ponder my habits and what I could do to foster community in my little neighborhood.
Snippets of folks lives as they describe their relationship to the place where they would call themselves a 'regular'. It made me ponder my habits and what I could do to foster community in my little neighborhood.
May 2, 2012
A cool little book of portraits taken by a woman working as a bartender. She discovers a talent for it and ended up getting a MFA from Yale. A study of barflies I guess. Very well done and you can't help but looking and wondering what their stories are.
June 14, 2009
requested a comp copy from a rep. - great spread of saturated, hard faces and tactile colors
June 30, 2010
Photos of regulars in a bar in Philly. I was a bar tender for a while. Makes me both simultaneously sad for and wanting to be a regular. This is not Cheers people.
February 4, 2012
Gorgeous portraits.
February 28, 2014
The photos nicely capture the flora and fauna of the bar, and Franzen's essay, and his take on Philly, are icing on the cake.
August 24, 2014
Wonderful stark portraits from a surly bartender of her unique customers. I especially loved her use of bare, hard lighting.
July 28, 2018
Very overexposed and yet kind portraits from a Philadelphia bar she tended. No action soever, just an ordinary sleazy goofy beauty. All worth it. Foreword from Jonathan Franzen is full-on ‘eh’.
September 1, 2010
An interesting collection of photographs taken at McGlinchey's Bar in Philadelphia.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews