Sometimes it feels like my experience exploring Brooklyn is an exercise in taxonomy; I must travel along the grid of orderly city blocks, observe the careful landscaping of stately co-ops, respect the dignified stoops of uniform brownstones. I feel compelled to catalog my surroundings and file them away neatly.
But lately what has drawn my attention most is CHAOS. Brooklyn is a borough of vibrant people, of diverse interests, of unbounded creativity and growth. And if you look hard enough, beyond the grid, the landscapes also tell this story. The onset of spring only amplifies the chaos; it’s almost as if nature is trying to overthrow the concrete and asphalt.
During our recent meet-up, I tried to capture this quiet mutiny as we walked through Gravesend and Brighton Beach. And somehow, it seems that the overlooked and the overgrown also speak volumes about this fair borough.
We’re back with yet another round of beautiful photos from the recent photo walk and meetup in Brighton Beach and Coney Island! While there have been lots of wonderful street shots capturing big personalities and iconic images along the boardwalk, check out the photos below for some particularly interesting pairs… Enjoy!
After the brief downpour on Saturday morning I ventured out on my bike and with camera and a 55 mm lens in tow. The winds were were blustering but otherwise a pretty day, sun shining and in the 70′s. I went to the Groundbreaking of the Richard B. Fisher Building at The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). The new arts facility will live at at 321 Ashland Place, former home to the Salvation Army. The renovation on the 7,700-square-foot building is expected to be completed in the summer of 2012 and will include a garden rooftop for special events.
The vendor tents and picnic tables were lined up down the block. Scents of BBQ chicken and fried seafood filled the air. The festivities were kicked off by the Soul Tigers and The Brooklyn Steppers in a spirited Battle of the Bands. The crowd formed tightly around the bands with smiles and cheers all around. The crowd was instructed to give them room as the bands started swinging their drums with their choreographed moves. It was really a fantastic performance by both bands.
Representatives from BAM, The Fisher Family, Letitia James, and Mary Markowitz were among the speakers. There was a lot of excitement about the continued expansion of the BAM cultural community. District 35 city councilwoman Letitia James spoke of the future of arts and culture in Brooklyn and what this development means to that future. By naming legends as diverse as Beethoven, Dizzy Gillespie and Jay-Z she reminded the crowd of the ever present need to support the artist. Borough President Marty Markowitz spoke about the continued growth of downtown Brooklyn. He got the crowd going by discussing the soon to be Brooklyn Nets. The Fisher family–namesake for the new building–spoke warmly about what BAM has meant to them as a family growing up and living in Brooklyn by discussing the concerts, dance performances and operas that have defined Brooklyn culture throughout their lives.
The groundbreaking had a very celebratory atmosphere. In a time when budgets are tight, often it is the cultural programs that are the first to get cut. It is nice to see the continued expansion and renewed importance placed on the arts and culture that define Brooklyn. The creation of a new 263-seat performance venue and affordable space for the community and education programs is the kind of project I can get behind.
One of the most interesting parts of our monthly For the Love of Brooklyn meetups is in the details: it’s fascinating to see how each photographer’s unique perspective emerges in their work. And our recent walk through Brighton Beach and Coney Island proved to be no exception.
While the iconic imagery of the Cyclone and Wonder Wheel have been captured time and time again, the shots below once again managed to capture their whimsical essence and the playful, child-like wonder they inspire. Though Coney Island and its future have weathered many controversies (click here for the latest), it’s impossible to deny their impact on the Brooklyn landscape.
Enjoy! Preferably with a pink fluff of cotton candy…
As anyone who’s stepped foot in the borough can tell, Brooklyn is a constellation of neighborhoods, of people, of ethnic diversity. Though the identities of each neighborhood are constantly in flux, documenting them is great fun. Before this past weekend’s meetup, I certainly had my own preconceptions about Brighton Beach. While some of them rang true (especially for the shoppers along Brighton Beach Avenue), we found an array of colorful personalities along our 4+ mile route.
Below are some fantastic shots of folks we encountered along the walk. I’m sure there will be plenty more to come, but for now, I hope you enjoy!
As temperatures rose on Saturday morning, I couldn’t help but get excited for our monthly For the Love of Brooklyn meet-up! As planned, I scheduled my day to meet out at the famed L&B Spumoni Gardens pizzeria in Gravesend at 2:30pm and down a couple of Sicilian slices before venturing out into the streets of South Brooklyn.
We had a great turn-out of intrepid photographers who showed up for pizza and photos; though after trying a scoop of the amazing homemade nocciola ice cream, I wanted nothing more than to relax in the shade. But relax we did not! According to Barry Yanowitz’s GPS map of our walk (pictured below), our 4+ mile route wound through Gravesend, Coney Island, and Brighton Beach.
As always, we’ll be featuring photos from the monthly meet-up right here on the blog, so stay tuned for loads of wonderful shots or browse the Flickr pool for more!! If you came out for the event, be sure to add your pictures to the pool or contact me to send them our way!
One thing I love about April is how it’s generally the first month in the year when it gets warm enough to take long night bike rides, and these rides are perfect for photos. I love riding around the city to take my night shots, but in the winter it gets a bit too cold to venture out too far. Now that it’s warmer, the entire ride is a pleasure so I can just wander aimlessly when I go out. I throw my camera, one or two lenses, and a tripod in/on my backpack and set out wherever the light takes me.
Last night there was a beautiful full moon in a near cloudless sky. On nights like that, the photos almost come out a bit alien, or movie-set-like. The deep blues of the sky become almost enchanting and the strong light from the full moon and street lamps create some beautiful shadows.
The neighborhoods are generally still active, but everything is so much emptier later at night. Brooklyn, for the most part, goes to sleep and the scenes sit there patiently awaiting the next day. It’s my favorite time to take photos. There is something about and empty Brooklyn scene that I find so captivating. I don’t know why I do, and hopefully never will; it’s one of the feelings that’s better without an explanation
In almost everywhere you turn, every scene you examine, there seems to be a story. The light, the object, and the character are trying to tell the viewer a history of location, a character of place. Welcome back spring, and welcome back long photo bike rides.
Though the skies are blue and brilliant today, the recent bout of rain and wind has brought a flood of photos to our Flickr group. Check out a few of the wonderful shots below and we’ll keep our fingers crossed for an abundance of May flowers (as if this month hasn’t brought us enough)!
After hitting up the Brooklyn Flea this weekend with a friend, we headed back through Fort Greene to eat brunch at the Habana Outpost on Fulton. Problem was it wasn’t quite open yet. So to kill a bit of time, we headed across the street to the lovely independent Greenlight Bookstore. It’s not often that I get a chance to leisurely browse my way through a good bookstore, and my credit cards usually thank me for that. However, this weekend I stumbled on this adorable postcard by Grégoire Ganter.
Ganter, as it seems from this interview, is a MBA-turned-pro-photographer who works out of his home in Tribeca and a DUMBO-based studio. His collections (Lea’s Alphabets, Cityscapes) are interesting mosaics of NYC and beyond. Of course, I couldn’t help but pick up a copy of his ode to Brooklyn. It makes me smile.
Annika Vitolo, a local singer-songwriter who hails from the Marine Park/Gerritsen Beach area, released a video this week to accompany her new single “Streets of Brooklyn.” The vid features an impressive array of photos from all over the borough in a montage of neighborhoods and real life on the streets (including a few shots from For the Love of Brooklyn)!
Check out Vitolo’s love song to Kings County below, and hop on over to her MySpace for more!
Wednesday, May 12th, 2010 by Jill
tags: brighton beach, coney island, gravesend, meet-up