July 17, 2006
The Faces of Brooklyn
Is there any place in the world as varied, beautiful, and interesting as Brooklyn (besides Manhattan, of course)? If you're not sure, check out Anthony LaSala and Seth Kusher's Brooklynites project- they've spent the last two years documenting the famous and less-famous residents of the borough, and they've put together an amazing website:
With this project, we wanted to sever the Brooklyn below that sky. Get beneath the facade, the name, the stories, the reputation, and the place we grew up in. We wanted to find out who the people were and what they loved, hated and added to this historic locale. What we found was a place and a gathering of people that are so much more than their illustrious repute.This project, tentatively titled "The Brooklynites", is long-term endeavor, which we plan to turn into a book after it is completed. It will feature photographs taken by Seth Kushner and interviews and essays by writer Anthony LaSala. Our aim is to create a large body of work, which would consist of images of people of all walks of life, in order to create a portrait of the borough through the people who live and work there.
Since June of 2004, we have been photographing and interviewing every type of person from nearly every neighborhood in the borough (we plan to include all neighborhoods). We approach people in the street who are intriguing. People whose work and lives we admire. People who are known to be proud Brooklynites. We usually ask the subjects to choose a location in Brooklyn that has some meaning to them. Anthony conducts a brief interview, asking the subject what they think makes Brooklyn special and then Seth completes a photo shoot.
Don't miss all the pictures, and their behind-the-scenes essays and documentary stills. Great, great, great stuff.
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Spike Lee lives on the UES now.
I'm glad they at least chose people who mostly were born and raised in the Metro area.
I'm so tired of people saying "I'm so new York!" or "I'm So Brooklyn!" even though they just moved here from Ohio, hold some weird disdain for the people actually from around here ("townies", they might think), and will probably leave in a few years anyway.
Wow. I'm truly floored by how thorough and deep this stuff is. And it's focused on many different parts of Brooklyn; not just the usual "Brownstone Brooklyn & Williamsburg" angle. Never thought I'd see Howard Wallach profiled at all in such a way. While I was never directly involved in the Lincoln photo department--too caught up in the school paper--his work in creating the photography department was truly a labor of love.
But one thing about the profiles irks me.
Why is band is a band like "The Hold Steady" profiled and given space in this? They are really a "flavor of the moment" band--that while not bad--is quite over-rated and practically unknown outside of Brooklyn. Most of the members are not from Brooklyn; they all have Minneapolis roots. And Craig Finn's comment of "And while the cost of living is high here, it's sort of like the cover charge." is quite ridiculous and perpetuates an elitist view of NYC that shouldn't be applied to Brooklyn. There are tons of other Brooklyn bands out there that have placed their roots in Brooklyn: The Fleshtones, They Mighht Be Giants, etc... Hopefully they'll be included to help balance things out.
But otherwise, this is a great/balanced collection of profiles.
i haven't had a chance to read all of those, but that's a really amazing project.
Umm.. Any other photos & essays about people you work with at PDN LaSala ?
That's just a cheap way of avoiding real reporting.
P.S. you’re a crappy writer too....
Do any women live in Brooklyn?
actually, if you click through you'll see lots of women profiled, from writers and actresses to business owners to everyday people.
"Is there any place in the world as varied, beautiful, and interesting as Brooklyn (besides Manhattan, of course)?"
Yeah, Queens and The Bronx are two that pop in my head.
It's still kosher to leave out Staten Island in all conversation.
Agreed Kristina, somehow, I doubt they'd do that kind of project for Staten Island...just a hunch.
www.forgotten-ny.com
...Except for the good folks at forgotten-ny.com, who recognize the beauty and diversity in ALL the boroughs. :)
Hmmm. Brooklyn also just consists of Park Slope & Williamsburg - and sometimes Boerum Hill.
Well, Kevin & Kristina, maybe artists from the other boroughs should get off their collective rear ends and start their own project. FYI, Mr. LaSala curates a photography show every year at the Alice Austen House on S.I. And, to be quite honest with you, there is NO other place in the world like Brooklyn.
I wish people would actually fucking read the project before opening their traps. Spike says in his profile that he doesn't live in Brooklyn anymore, and I saw not just the Slope and Burg profiled, but Coney Island, Midwood, Red Hook, and Greenpoint as well. Just because you only recognize the names of those two neighborhoods doesn't mean the others aren't included.
Man, the word "Curate" sure is used loosely these days...
In this case it's just a slapped on lable with no truth behind it..
It sounds like there is a disgruntled Tony in the bunch. My goodness! This is such a fabulous project and here you are venting your own personal issues. Create something this detailed and rich, get some press about it on this website so I can leave you snippy little comments about your mother not teaching you manners. Shame on you!
A bold and ambitious project about a town I love so dear. A truly enormous undertaking considering that of the millions of bright souls which inhabit the Borough, only a select few would grace the pages of this masterful work. What is offered here is not a definitive account of Brookyn as it is being lived in today, but a snapshot of certain individuals who take great pride in where they live. This pride is in no small way reflected in their art. The book in itself hammers this last point home.
So Say We All
If it weren’t for a shitrag like PDN, these two gumbas would still be serving slices of pizza back in bay ridge where they belong, not no talent phonies calling themselves photographers, & writers!
As for manners, welcome to Brooklyn..!
I didn't see Midwood, Marine Park, Mill Basin, Gerritsen Beach, Georgetown, Kensington, Borough Park, Madison, etc., mentioned. Other than Bensonhurst, Coney Island, and Brighton Beach, everything that truly, geographically constitutes Brooklyn South was neglected.
Yes, I have to agree with Tony and son. Photo District News is a shitrag.
I was a subject in this project and I happen to know that the work on their site is maybe a 1/4 of all the work they have done. The site is a sampling...they have covered EVERY neighborhood. The rest of the photos will be in a book. These two guys are super talented and dedicated to sharing their love of Brooklyn. Those of you complaining are probably disgruntled photogs who were never talented enough to be included in a serious publication like PDN. Perhaps if you worked as hard on your art as you did moaning, then you'd be feartured on this site.