November 3, 2011

Da Bronx

Twice this week I've gone up to the Bronx very early in the morning just after sunrise. The Bronx used to be a very scary place back in the 80s. I read that people would sleep on the steps of their local police stations during the summer nights because they were terrified of being shot in their homes. A lot has changed. Obviously good from a safety standpoint but it's not exactly the Bronx I was hoping to capture. It's a bit homogenized these days, like everywhere else in New York. Photographically speaking, safe places are not that visually stimulating.


Graffiti, remnants of days gone by.


Bronx commuters.


Under the #1 train


On the bridge between Manhattan and the Bronx.


My breakfast at some little corner diner for $3.50. Not a caucasian in the place.

3 comments:

  1. The photo 'Under the #1 train' is lovely. There's something about the shadows, the way light falls through the metal and makes patterns on the street below the elevated subways... All the metal lattice workings, the giant bolts, the screech and chaotic rumble of the trains. At one moment you notice how stunning the shadows are and in the next the train rolls above you. There’s a split second of shock at the violent sounds, which jerk you back to reality… standing below a subway. It's that odd juxtaposition between graphic splendor and a manmade structure that I find profoundly striking.

    Also, this post reminds me of the ethnography “In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio.” You might like it: http://books.google.com/books/about/In_search_of_respect.html?id=XTC1ny-utfgC

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  2. The Bronx is such an interesting place to visit and live. So much to do.

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