Gowanus

This series of photographs chronicles the Gowanus neighborhood in Brooklyn. As a photographer, I am concerned with seeing my environment and finding the beauty in the ordinary, the overlooked, and the forgotten - to borrow a phrase from William Eggleston, to “photograph democratically”. Inspired by the gentrification of this neighborhood, which I have lived in for over a decade, I find myself drawn less to the intrusion of the contemporary and more to the timeworn character of my surroundings. As a child, I grew up in a similar environment – the Ironbound section of Newark, NJ - a neighborhood predominantly made up of blue-collar and immigrant families on the border of an industrial area. In many ways, I see my current surroundings through that child’s eyes, with all the curiosity and sense of wonder that implies. My goal for my photographs is to show the dignity of a place in the midst of inevitable transformation, and the inspiration that can be found even in the most spartan of settings.