BUS BILLBOARDS

In the world of advertising, every square inch of urban space is accounted for
and I am often amused by the casual passengers riding giant billboards
throughout the city,

all photos ©Ken Brown

FELLOW CITIZENS

Of all the wonders this city delivers with great regularity, the cavalcade of characters and their arrangement with sets and settings continue to delight and amuse.

Union Square

Flag raising in Bushwick

In case you didn't know, reading is rad.

Taming gators in Long Island City

I was checking out this large framed floral piece when a

woman came by and admired it, saying it would look

good in her living room. I said, "It's yours if I can take your

picture".

Peeling poster walls in Soho always make great urban background for photo shoots.

all photos ©Ken Brown

UPSTATE EXPLORATIONS

  I was visiting friends in a small town upstate on Thanksgiving and took a walk on a back road nearby. I’ve always loved old signage and was lured by this  beauty on an old and apparently abandoned building that a generation ago was a source for steady heat and real comfort.

I was curious about the possibility of other signs and explored further, only to find 

a partially overgrown road with a caved in house set back in the woods. Tires and

toys were scattered about and the fragments of lives once lived were everywhere

as nature moved in to reclaim.

               
                            The front porch was overgrown with moss and debris.

          My archeologist instincts took over as I explored the objects and what they                        might say about the time and culture they represented.

                           

                 A Peter Pan Records 45 release, “I’m Getting Nuttin’ for Christmas”.

           Insulation hovers over the one remaining room, with books, papers and          toys scattered everywhere. 

Beads Galore and a TV Dinner offer clues...

                            

   

                   Philosophy Made Simple in the Self Teaching Library gives  

          credence to the aspirational instincts of the inhabitants. 

                                           

               Creativity is apparent in this creature made from yarn remnants...   

            A mysterious creature, perhaps a musical instrument and a jar of              Redenbachers Gourmet Popping Corn, another diet clue.

                             

    After this brief exploration, I felt that I had a better understanding of the time frame and habits of the people who had once occupied the home. Of course, I also wondered why they left and where they went.  I may never know this part of the story, but for now, I knew it was time to get back to my friends home for 

Thanksgiving dinner.

all photos ©Ken Brown

NYC STREET PERFORMERS

           Here's a big "Hats-off" to the many people who contribute to the color and vitality
           of NY city street culture.

all photos ©Ken Brown

TORN POSTERS

   I've always been fascinated by urban poster graphics, as well
   as by their often strangely artful demise.

all photos ©Ken Brown

HALLOWEEN COSTUMERY

                            A favorite holiday and some of the costumery that goes with it...

all photos ©Ken Brown

HALLOWEEN HOOPLA

                           Halloween Hoopla and the transformation of the urban landscape

Garden guardians

           

RIP

stoop sitting with some bony buddies

gang o' ghouls

cackling granny repairs

Hillbilly Hollow in Dyker Hts

tender moments

Happy Halloween

all photos ©Ken Brown