On a rainy Saturday in April, more than
100 photographers fanned out across the streets, alleyways, and
subway stations of Brooklyn armed with cameras, rolls of film,
and a mission.
The mission: to capture the breadth of culture in the borough’s
60-plus neighborhoods.
The results of those excursions, from Bedford-Stuyvesant to Bay
Ridge to Brooklyn Heights, will adorn the walls of Borough Hall
starting in early September.
Positive Focus, a nonprofit center for Brooklyn photographers,
teamed with adayinthelife.org, a photography Web site, to sponsor
the event, "A Day in the Life of Brooklyn."
"It’s about documenting Brooklyn and the daily lives of
the people and culture," explained Rob Lowell, a Positive
Focus board member who helped organize the event.
Because of a copyright issue, (Harper Collins holds a copyright
for a book series of the same name) the organization was forced
to change the title of the show to "Real Brooklyn, a Day
in Our Life."
On April 26, each photographer set out to their designated section
of the borough. Their only assignment was to document the neighborhood
however they saw fit.
Each photographer submitted up to four prints from the day. (Because
it rained much of the day, the contest was extended for a second
day).
Sifting through more than 400 prints, judges last month selected
80 photographs to hang in the Borough Hall show.
The selection is an eclectic cross-section representing the diversity
of Brooklyn. There’s Hank Gans’ shot of a heavily rouged, deep-red
lipsticked Junior’s counter lady, her hair in a bun with a dark
pink bow as she offers up a strawberry cheesecake, a glimmer
of a smile on her face. Contrast that with Carolina Salguero’s
stark, black-and-white image of what appears to be a gruff, older
longshoreman standing below a dock rigging, the only other image
visible a light bulb casting light on a dock structure in the
background.
Amy, a nose-pierced Laundromat employee, is captured matching
socks at a Carroll Gardens Laundromat on the corner of Henry
and President streets in a photo taken by Brenda Milis while
Sherri Nutti shot a young boy in an East Flatbush barber shop
watching closely in the mirror as the barber takes an electric
razor to the back of his head.
A photo by Brooklyn Papers photographer Tom Callan was selected
for the show’s promotional material.
Assigned to DUMBO, Callan shot photos of the Brooklyn Bridge
from the roof deck of the Sweeney building, but the photo that
caught the judges’ eyes he took from the Q train platform at
Pacific Street. The shot peeks into one of the train’s windows
and catches a crowded, but not packed, subway car carrying a
typical cross section of riders of various ethnicity. All are
looking in different directions – one reading a newspaper, a
couple who may be in conversation – and seem oblivious to the
photographer on the platform. All, that is, except for one youngster
in the far right of the window wearing a hooded, New York emblazoned
sweatshirt, who is mugging for the camera.
Callan attributed the photo’s success to good timing and being
in the right place at the right time.
The Brooklyn Heights-based photographer says he often travels
with his camera out and ready because otherwise "you see
a perfect shot but you can’t capture it."
"The judges liked the fact that it had the Brighton Beach
sign and that the train was going out that way heading towards
Brooklyn. It captured the essence of the event," said Lowell,
adding, "It’s all about celebrating Brooklyn."
A selection of images chosen for "Real
Brooklyn, a Day in Our Life" can be viewed online at www.adayinthelife.org/brooklyn.
Positive Focus can be reached at (718) 854-4639. The exhibit
will be on display at Borough Hall (Joralemon Street at Court
Street in Downtown Brooklyn) starting with an opening reception
on Monday, Sept. 8, from 5:30 pm to 8 pm, through Sept. 30. A
smaller selection of photographs from the exhibit will be on
display at Photo District Gallery, 37 W. 20th St., in Manhattan,
starting Aug. 21 for four weeks.
