Martino Marangoni first saw New York in the summer of 1959, a nine-year-old with a Kodak Brownie camera, visiting his American grandparents. He photographed the skyscrapers, and his fascination with the city and his ties to friends and family brought him back almost every year. From 1972 to 1975 he studied photography at the Pratt Institute, where he became acquainted with the work of Robert Frank, Lee Friedlander and other New York-based street photographers. There he developed his subjects of interest and his photographic style.

Marangoni was in New York not only while the Twin Towers were being built, but also when they collapsed in 2001. Since that day he returned regularly to Ground Zero, documenting the rebuilding of the area and the changing neighborhood. Witnessing the 9/11 attacks also drew him back to his archive.

Rebuilding – My Days in New York gathers images from Marangoni’s archive covering a period of 60 years. The narrative construction was made with Rob van Hoesel, who also designed the book and handled lithography; Barbara Nagelsmith edited and proofread the texts. Marangoni’s own texts and personal notes appear alongside an epilogue by W.M. Hunt. The book is described as a photographer’s search for his subject and unique expression, supplemented with anecdotes and personal notes.

The English edition was published by The Eriskay Connection in 2018: 208 pages, 200 × 280 mm, in Otabind softcover. An Italian-language edition was published by Postcart.