"WHAT ONCE WAS..."

We’re all familiar with the notion of “ghost towns”, a fixture of roadside attractions, mostly in the American West. Their history usually had a lot to do with a flurry of activity and enterprise centered around a specific natural resource or location. For some time now, I have been fascinated by the ghost town fringes of post industrial NY and other areas. In this city there will be no quaint gift shop selling souvenirs as the rapid and relentless march of gentrification has completely transformed most of these areas.  Here’s a peak at what once was...

              the Gowanus circa 2008 was a collection of abandoned small 

              industrial structures and this part now stands as a Whole Foods 

              and parking lot.

                 2009. the Gowanus with “Riv View”, now a block long collection of 
              brand new condos.

        Fort Tilden was a former military installation and is now part of the Gateway

        National Recreation Area. Many of the long abandoned old bunkers and

        buildings are favorite graffiti spots.

               Admiral’s Row, is a collection of gorgeous, Second Empire-style 

               officer homes that were located adjacent to the Brooklyn Navy Yard 

               and some dated back to the Civil War. They were owned by the 

               National Guard until recently when ownership shifted to the Brooklyn

               Navy Yard Development Corporation. There had been concerted 

               efforts to landmark and restore, but they continued to crumble and 

               sadly, I watched the last ones go down a few weeks ago. Plans are 

               on for a Wegmans supermarket to open in 2017.

                           all photos ©Ken Brown

SELFIE CITY

I have been fascinated for some time by the passion people have for self documentation. The selfie scene, brought to life by recent technological changes has created a portrait parade in the billions and NYC, with it’s wide range of background options keeps my file of people taking pictures of people in constant growth mode.    

all photos ©Ken Brown

"THE TATS ARE OUT"

Summertime heat wave and the tats are out … 

I have always been a fan of artful expression and the many forms that it takes. One of the more significant changes in recent years is the obvious inclusion of tattoo art in the way we present. It is as varied as the sizable percentage of (mostly) young people who have adopted it into their lives. This is a very small and non-objective sampling from the many acres of ink that have spread out across the social landscape (OK, I admit to loving the oddball flavors).

all photos ©Ken Brown

"TIME AND NATURE"

This collection of photos taken over the last several years, explores the realm of 

beautiful decay, the art that is created by a combination of time and nature. The

post was inspired, in part, by seeing the wonderful film portrait of Rosamond Purcell, “An Art that Nature Makes” by Molly Bernstein, and (small disclaimer), joined by “Season of Wonder” by Lisa Crafts, now showing at the Film Forum.

all photos ©Ken Brown

"SURREAL VIGNETTES"

In my ongoing “hunting and gathering” rambles around the city, I am still amazed   by the sheer variety of surreal vignettes that present themselves with great regularity ...

all photos ©Ken Brown

"A SUMMER DIP"

                                                    A summer dip in the vertical files...

all photos ©Ken Brown