Argyle Rd.

This is my old neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. Down around the corner of Cortelyou and Argyle roads, I remember snippets of my childhood, including bakery runs on Sunday morning, the playground around the corner, and even the walk up Argyle to Prospect Park.  Most of the neighborhood changed, but I was able to quickly find old bearings through my memories of this part of town. Most notably, the mural in Lt. Federico Narvaez Tot Lot has weathered the decades long between visits, and stands just as it did to me almost 20 years ago today.

More from the edge of Queens

Emerald city, otherwise known as "The Hole".  In the short time spent here, I was told that the streets are flooded like this after rain, and that the cowboys come through every so often.  Nearby to Emerald City are a group of city riders known as the Federation of Black Cowboys.  I was hoping to talk to some of them, and perhaps get their photograph, but  I was not so lucky this time. 

These neighborhoods are beginning sit at the edge of my consciousness, between the soft tissue and skull.  There are small stories here, short histories to be told.  I'm trying not to forget that some places sink, and others keep rising out of the layers of old.  

Back in New York City

How else does one return to NYC than a trip to Coney Island? I could think of no better reintroduction to the subways, the culture, or to connect present with past.


Photographing didn't make it that far, only to take pictures with some kids from the Bronx who made the long trip across the entire city to reach the beach. At each station, they would race to a car up the train, seeing how many cars they could pass before the doors close.


It was pointed out to me that it is a different kind of relationship between photographer and subject when the subject is aware of being photographed. These kids at first yelled at me for taking their photo, but I was able to show them a few of the shots, making them more comfortable with me. Afterward, their role was performer, and I the recorder.


The only question for me is, does the viewer know any difference, between when the subjects are aware of the photographer, and when they were not? More often, engaging the subject, to ask or find out otherwise how to allow for the relationship to begin, is the hardest part.