29 April 2009

This photograph is from the part of the neighborhood where the buildings have forklifts coming in and out of them and where trucks are being loaded and unloaded. I don't know if these boxes are made there, of if they're used for packaging other things made there or for packaging things made somewhere else. I didn't ask. I just liked the stacks of flat boxes and the men moving them around and shooting the breeze.

02 April 2009

A year after I first met and photographed them, I spent part of an afternoon with the Red Hook born and raised brothers Raquan (foreground) and Raheem. The first picture I took of them was in an exhibit called "The Changing Faces of Brooklyn." And if you look back at how they looked a year ago it's clear that they really have changed.

They were really excited about how the photos from last year looked, but I think seeing them made the guys even more aware of how they'd look in these shots, and these are guys who care about looking good (don't we all), so there was an extra layer of cool as I shot this time.

Their friends Jason (black hat) and Jose (red hat) ran into us, saw the prints and wanted to be in some photos too. Here the brothers are looking at some of the prints I gave them. Jason, a middle school student, was especially striking looking in his green colored contacts- which seem to be gaining popularity with some of the Latino teens I know. A troubling pursuit of the bluest eye or just a playful fashion statement?