Boy was it a kick in the pants. Seeing all the good work folks are doing around Brooklyn was unbelievably inspirational. From images of late night taco trucks, to Mermaid Parade revelers, to portraits of those living fleeting, everyday moments, I was really overwhelmed by many of the works I’m seeing these days.

Check out a few of my recent favorites below and be sure to pause a beat and let the mood of each wash over you!

Untitled, by Barry Yanowitz:

“Tacos!” by Jonathan Percy:

Untitled, by Christine Renee Miller (via David Pexton):

“Helvis at the Mermaid,” by Leanne Staples:

“DAY 707: BAGS OF CANS,” by Bill Sweeney:

“2011 Coney Island Mermaid Parade,” by Sean Hopkins:

Untitled, by Claire Voelkel:

Recently, he’s been adding more fantastic photographs to his barbershop series, which features shops all over the city from Sunset Park to Greenpoint. I reached out to him this week to find out more about his inspiration for shooting this series and his thoughts. Chris elaborates:

“I spend lots of time in the more Latino neighborhoods where the barbershops and hairdressers are a big part of the culture. It’s often where people go to hang out, gossip, catch up on news. Besides being a hub of activity, I find many places are amazingly designed, with a lot of work put into the decoration.

Rarer, but my favorite, are the older places that often are time capsules. I also love people who put a lot of work into looking good, exhibiting their own fashion sense. Mirrors, I love mirrors. It’s rare that I get turned down shooting them; the owners are rightfully proud of both the stores, the design, and the job that they do.”

Check out some of his great barbershop portraits from around Brooklyn below, and click here to see more! Be sure to click on the photos to read more about the shops in Chris’ own words!

Thanks to all the great photographers contributing to the FTLOB Flickr pool. Here is a collection of photos of Brooklynites to get you through your day.

“Singing Man on F Train,” by Eloy Anzola:

“Vanessa the Hairdresser: Cobble Hill,” by Chris Arnade:

“Andy,” by Adam Lerner and “Annual Coney Island Polar Bear Swim,” by Leanne Staples:

“Boa,” by currañ:

“Benad,” by Alec McClure:

“Can Do,” by Yeshvir Daamineni:

“Islam in New York: Samira of Waterfalls Cafe,” by Chris Arnade:

I remember going into the store a couple years ago, and having Joe jokingly explain to me, “I’m here to give them their fix – I’m like a dealer, but for cards and comics.”   One of the staples of the owner/customer interaction was massive giving of grief on both parts; the store itself was all about the community Joe built. I visited the Dugout a couple of times during its last few days both to grab a couple boxes of cards, and talk a bit with Joe about his experience for the past two decades.

One story Joe told me was of the relationship he had with a father and son (pictured above) who had been coming to his store regularly over the past decade.  Mitch (father) and Yosef (son) had been frequenting the Baseball Card Dugout since he moved to the Court Street location.  Yosef and his dad both have a great love for sports and all things related and would come to Joe’s store to pick up some cards, or autographs and talk about how the local teams were doing. They all became such good friends that every Hanukkah, Mitch and Yosef would bring latkes and sour cream to Joe.

When it was time for Yosef to have his Bar Mitzvah, he wanted to do something to share his love of sports with other kids who might not be able to do it so easily.  As a result, he and his father worked together and created Champ2Champ, a charity that gives sports-related items and tickets to sick children.  It’s an amazingly nice program and Joe was always willing to do whatever he could to help, whether it was giving special cards, autographs, or other memorabilia to the cause.

The interesting part about the store, was that the story about Mitch and Yosef were no exception.  Pictured above is Joe with another one of his customers named George, who is a big sports fan (Go Mets!) and came in on the last day to say goodbye to the store he loved and his friend who ran it.  There were a number of other people who stopped in during the last couple of hours.  One of NYC’s bravest, a big Superman fan, double-parked a ladder truck filled with firemen outside the store so he could say goodbye.  Another person who had been seeing Joe at the store for more than half of his life told me about what an institution the store was, and how Joe would always do whatever he could to keep his long time customers happy.

While the Dugout may be no longer, Joe is not done yet.  In the true Brooklyn spirit – he’s already got a new project which you may have seen around.  He’s one of the guys behind the tasty (and local!) Powerball Energized Juice, a naturally-flavored energy drink.  So pick some up, and tip your glass to support a Brooklynite whose been spending decades making people happy.

Nick speaks at eye-opening length about the prevalence of violence against homeless populations in Part I; the continued victimization of the homeless has catalyzed the National Coalition for the Homeless to seek protection under hate crime laws. But what he concludes is wholly unsatisfying and disheartening, but true: that “it is our collective apathy, a crime of disinterest, that allows this hate to find expression so easily and so frequently.”

The whole series is a must-read if you can spare the time. And if you’re a photographer or a writer: use your tools and talents! They’re invaluable. The words and images you create are indeed powerful and speak volumes when others cannot.

“Executive Clemency,” by Reuben Radding:

Untitled by Vitaliy Piltser, and “Woman on C Train” by Natalie Behring:

“Homeless Woman: Coney Island,” by Rob Hoey:

“New York’s Somethingest,” by [mementosis]:

Near the end of the tour, we encountered an artist working on the beautiful murals which decorate the Coney Island USA building. She was decked out in an old paint-splattered Mermaid Parade t-shirt and dock shoes, busy putting the finishing touches on a vignette on the east side of the building. I learned that this was none other than Prof. Marie Roberts, the Coney Island artist in residence who has been largely responsible for last 10+ years of iconic Coney Island imagery.

Of course, I asked her for a portrait. She graciously obliged and smiled.

Born and raised in Coney Island, Marie’s family has had strong ties to the community for several generations and her art reflects this deep bond with the landscape. She says that her “father’s family was involved in Coney Island at the turn of the 20th century; my grandfather was acting battalion chief of the Coney Island District until his death in 1924. My Uncles Harry and Guy were at Dreamland the night of the fire. I have an uncle buried in the Gravesend Cemetery. My father claimed he never got out of the 6th grade because he was too busy watching the horses cross the finish line at the Gravesend track. My Uncle Lester was the talker for the Dreamland Circus Sideshow in the 1920’s.”

I also hear she has loads of legendary stories about growing up in a sideshow family, many of which surface as inspiration in her beautiful sideshow banner work. Be sure to check it out on the web here or in person at Surf Avenue and 12th Street!

Born during the depression and reign of Mussolini in Castelvetrano, Sicily; Jack immigrated with his brother Frank to America just after World War II and settled in Bushwick, Brooklyn working as a dishwasher in a Knickerbocker Avenue Italian eatery. A decade later, Jack and his brother Frank settled in Canarsie and opened a barber shop on Avenue L. Although Frank [retired] in the mid-1990′s, the shop continues to carry both their names.

This little shop continues to thrive as Jack works alone in a much changed neighborhood. Where his customers were once mainly Italian and German Americans, he now has customers of Hispanic, Arab, Chinese, Filipino and Caribbean backgrounds, to name but a few, as well as the small but persistent local white population and those who moved away but come back for a cut and hot shave. Jack is a jovial and very chatty individual with a million and one stories – a true Brooklynite.

For even more photos, stroll on over to Jack and Frank’s Facebook page!

Check out some of my warm-up shots below from the South Slope, Gowanus, and DUMBO! And make sure to contribute your own to our Flickr pool!

One of my New Year’s resolutions for 2010 is to become a bolder photographer, especially when it comes to street portraiture. It’s not always easy to capture the unwitting (and sometimes unwilling!) on film, but fortunately there are zoom lenses until I get up enough nerve. Thanks to my fellow Love of Brooklynite Kruger for letting me borrow this crisp, vintage 135mm lens — it’s the perfect solution to shyness on the street!

On da Road (Brooklyn Style)

Brooklyn is an enigma. Situated on the westernmost location of Long Island, it forms the entrance to New York Harbor with Staten Island in the geological scheme. When it comes to human emotion, just the mere mention of the word Brooklyn is enough. We know you are not talking about Brooklyn, Ohio or Brooklyn Park, Minnesota but the Brooklyn located in Kings County, New York — the one made famous the world over through literature and media. The place whose greatest resource is the people who call it home.

Once one of six towns making up Kings County itself encompassed what is now the downtown area from Brooklyn Heights down to Red Hook and just into Sunset Park. The other towns were Flatlands, Flatbush, Bushwick, New Utrecht and Gravesend. Williamsburg was a growing village within the township of Bushwick that was granted its own charter and became a city. Within a decade before the Civil War, both Williamsburg and Bushwick were annexed by the city of Brooklyn. The other towns remained agricultural well into the 20th century, yet they were all incorporated to Brooklyn between 1894-1896.

In 1898, Brooklyn itself was annexed to the City of New York. All towns were Dutch except Gravesend, which was founded by a woman, Lady Deborah Moody, who left England in persecution of her beliefs, and came to Brooklyn via a radical Anabaptist sect from Massachusetts. The name Brooklyn itself means Broken Land in the Dutch language.

From the times of the Algonquins, whose place and tribe names still grace many community and place names here, to the European settlement and subsequent annexation into the greatest city in the world, we may live on Broken Land (Breuckelen) in what is arguably the finest collection of residential architecture in a single county in the United States. The past here may not have always been pleasant or fair, but yet in this small county we have not only created a world class image but the image of America itself or what it hopes to be some day. This is why I LOVE Brooklyn.