Stefan Nadelman’s ‘Terminal Bar’ (2003) is a biographical short film that insightfully and progressively portrays the story of the occupants that visited the bar through hundreds of photographs over a span of 10 years, all taken by Sheldon Nadelman.

The viewer of the short is taken through a visually robust journey throughout New York’s Terminal Bar’s 10 year history by being exposed to the gritty life of the bars inhabitants. The boisterous audio complements the visuals outstandingly as it amplifies just how times would have been in the photographs displayed.

The photographs taken progressively reveal to us how life was like within the bar and how people came to change and how the area changed with them. Sheldon Nadelman captured these photos with diligence and care as he really wanted to show through his images how one individual can change over a short space of time. The film does a exceptional job of locating the images strong points and correspondingly picking them together in a unique transitional manner where the viewer can be carried through the story with ease.

Nadelman really wanted ‘Terminal bar’ to leave a lasting impression, the film did that justice by portraying the bar in a very unique manner. A later to visit to the grounds where the bar once was alive was a standard urban street no longer full of the bars local loyalists. Nadelman in response to the current status of the bars area just replies with “ Nothings changed; its New York shitty”.