Monthly Archives: December 2010

In the abandoned Brooklyn parking lots and railway paths is where you’ll find their mark. The canvases which are found in places that could be parks or even public, evolving galleries are filled with creations during the darkest hours of the night, under pseudonyms, illegally. The artists are not exactly alone though. In these same spaces where they dangerously trespass to express themselves in paint are also the likes of homeless people and drug addicts. The walls are masterpieces but the ground is littered with garbage, needles, rubble and remanence of “sleep setups”.

The spaces are being utilized in a very polarized sense; a place for the artists to work in large scale and for night dwellers to do drugs. One of the places is the railway which runs along avenue H in Brooklyn. With so many miles of what could be a beautiful public place, perhaps a park like Manhattans Highline, it makes little sense as to why it remains the way it does. It could remain a space for the artists without the midnight climb or the constant looking over ones shoulder for authorities as well as become so much more as it is picturesque all on its own during the day. The city should be paying more attention to the spaces they leave unattended as they are becoming a petri dish for criminal activity both of the innocent and dangerous varieties.

Movement is one of the best things to photograph, especially something as graceful as dancing. Photographer is my friend, Petey, who has been a dancer since childhood. She is from Arkansas originally, and has taken a variety of dance classes and has also taught classes, and choreographed several dances. Moving to NYC, she hopes to become a dancer of some sort, and make it big. I photographed her during one of her practice sessions where she practiced all sorts of dance to different music. In the end, she is one person who has total passion for dancing.

The resurgence of burlesque has been percolating in the underground nightclubs for the past 10 years, but lately the neo-burlesque movement has taken mainstream stages at venues like Joe’s Pub, and has inspired upscale niche clubs such as The Box. Miss Clams Casino, “one delicious dish” as she calls herself-and the subject of this photo essay- began her career in burlesque right after witnessing her first performance. Seven years later, she’s still having a blast, now a producer and performer Clams can be seen rolling her suitcase full of props and costumes through the New York City subways up to four times a week and hitting a variety of local hang outs including, Littlefield, Public Assembly, or Nurse Bettie. From 1840-1960 burlesque served a very different social function than it does today. Once it pushed the boundaries of what was taboo, now it is an homage to the art of seduction in a society obsessed with sexuality and nudity. The neo-burlesque community takes its job very seriously, celebrating the body in all its unconventional beauty, reinventing a lost art.