Where in Brooklyn to make a good Brooklyn photo?

August 9, 2007 5:59 PM

I want to make a photograph that depicts/evokes 'Brooklyn' as a wedding gift for someone who grew up there. I don't want to use the Brooklyn Bridge (too common) or the Botanical Garden (she wanted to have her wedding there but it fell through). Interior or exterior recommendations are equally welcome.
posted by xo to Travel & Transportation around New York, NY (29 answers total)

As a non-New Yorker, the only other thing that says "Brooklyn" to me is the El.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 6:03 PM on August 9, 2007

Where exactly did she grow up? As in what neighborhood(s)? Brooklyn is pretty diverse.
posted by boomchicka at 6:09 PM on August 9, 2007

Junior's?
posted by cerebus19 at 6:11 PM on August 9, 2007

Best answer: Coney Island: the Cyclone, the Parachute Jump, the boardwalk, Nathans.
posted by Marky at 6:18 PM on August 9, 2007

Best answer: A brownstone, like the ones you would find in Park Slope, Cobble Hill, Brooklyn Heights, etc, is the iconic Brooklyn image (after the bridge). But you really should give us more info about where she's from -- if she's from an apartment building on Bay Ridge or a detached Victorian in Midwood, a brownstone may not be what she thinks of when she thinks of home.

The Grand Army Plaza arch near Prospect Park is another symbol of Brooklyn -- but it might not mean anything to someone from a faraway neighborhood. Ditto the Williamsburg Savings Bank tower.
posted by ROTFL at 6:27 PM on August 9, 2007

Response by poster: Oh yeah, for clarification -- she grew up in Park Slope, but I don't know which buildings specifically. I know she lived for awhile in a block near the Pavilion movie theater. Has that theater been there since the late '70s? Is there anywhere in Prospect Park that could work (old carousel? iconic gates?)? I live near NYC but my Brooklyn knowledge is limited to bars.
posted by xo at 6:41 PM on August 9, 2007

Best answer: The Pavilion theater opened in the mid-90s.

Brooklyn is pretty diverse. As for that area, well, there is always Prospect Park. The Central Library at Grand Army Plaza is pretty close by, and rather iconic. The Brooklyn Museum isn't too far from there either.
posted by cmgonzalez at 6:50 PM on August 9, 2007

Best answer: A shot through the arch towards the park would be nice, or a shot of the picnic house (on the west side of the park). You could also shoot the park from the southwest corner, from the vantage point of the Pavilion.
From inside the park, you could take a nice picture of the ballfields or the playground near 9th st.

If it wasn't currently outfitted with a black construction condom, the Savings and Loan building would be perfect, but yeah-- it's not too pretty right now.
posted by rmless at 6:53 PM on August 9, 2007

How about the Brooklyn Children's Museum...a little known gem on St. Marks. Depending on where's she from, you might go to different neighborhoods for different shots. The narrow, cobbled-streets of Cobble Hill, the boardwalk at Coney Island...or Sheepshead Bay, the Midwood Brownstones...Handball courts in any neighborhood too.
posted by notjustfoxybrown at 6:55 PM on August 9, 2007

Probably not what you're wanting, but I'd find a bunch of old street and location photos from the years when she was a kid, then revisit those locations and take matching "today" photos of the scene, then arrange the then&now photo sets by location over a poster-sized map of the area.
posted by -harlequin- at 7:02 PM on August 9, 2007

There's a nice entry to the park directly across the street from the Pavilion. If that's not picturesque enough, you can't go wrong with Grand Army Plaza and/or the library, just up the street.
posted by sonofslim at 7:06 PM on August 9, 2007

A shot like this might be nice.
posted by blaneyphoto at 7:14 PM on August 9, 2007

What about making a collage? For example, something like this work by Joseph Cornell except make it a victorian girl in a wedding dress, and have her floating over a black and white photo of a Brooklyn scene like the one on the Brooklyn Industries.

But for just a photo, I always thought this shot of The Manhattan Bridge seen from Brooklyn (Dumbo) was cool.
posted by extrabox at 7:22 PM on August 9, 2007

Best answer: there is a photographer on flickr who goes by the screenname overshadowed who does stunning nocturnal shots of that area.

check out this example or this one or this one.

perhaps he has something else that would work for you. I'd suggest contacting him.
posted by krautland at 7:26 PM on August 9, 2007

I vote for the brownstone shot. Iconic and beautiful.
posted by sweetkid at 7:26 PM on August 9, 2007

Does Coney Island count as Brooklyn?
posted by unknowncommand at 7:54 PM on August 9, 2007

Best answer: Maybe something from the Smith and 9th street subway station, which is above ground? Either overlooking all of Brooklyn (the 'Eagle clothing' sign, or the Williamsburg savings bank) or of an approaching F train? If your friend grew up around the Pavillion she almost certainly took the F train.
posted by cosmic osmo at 7:57 PM on August 9, 2007

Best answer: There is also the carousel in Prospect Park but I don't know how iconic it is.
posted by unknowncommand at 7:58 PM on August 9, 2007

If she grew up in Park Slope, go for Grand Army Plaza, the Brooklyn Museum, of just that tree lined road that runs between the park and the botanical garden.

If all that fails you could shoot the wharf or the Victorian mansions in Flatbush, Or Erasmus High School, of Sheep head bay or King Plaza or...
posted by kanemano at 8:06 PM on August 9, 2007

Oh! Or what about the Armory in Park Slope? Though I agree that the Eagle sign is fantastic.
posted by unknowncommand at 8:07 PM on August 9, 2007

It'd cost you a few bucks... (though not necessarily a crazy amount) but what about renting a helicopter ride and getting an aerial shot looking down at an angle so you get Park Slope, and just the edge of Manhattan? That'd be an unusual view, and the fact you went to some effort to capture the photo yourself might be cool?
posted by Ziggurat at 8:20 PM on August 9, 2007

ziggurat: not to burst your bubble but that's gonna be difficult.

almost all of brooklyn is either class A or B airspace. een if it were more open, a helicopter would be required to maintain a minimum altitude of 500ft and it would have to be a twin engine chopper due to the ny city regulations, which is going to be kind of costly. they are quite strict (ever notice how helicpopters can only cross manhattan over central park or have to fly around?)

liberty helicopters does airtours but you cannot ask them to divert from the purchased route and the US helicopter shuttles to jfk have tinted windows.
posted by krautland at 8:32 PM on August 9, 2007 [1 favorite]

Heh. I guess I pulled a boner there.

Well then, to go for a true iconic Brooklyn shot, you could try to get a shot of Kim Gordon, Ad-Rock and Spike Lee trying to rent a helicopter to fly them around.
posted by Ziggurat at 9:26 PM on August 9, 2007

Does Coney Island count as Brooklyn?

Absolutely! The real question is whether Brooklyn qualifies as an appropriate container for Coney Island.
posted by gum at 9:30 PM on August 9, 2007

Best answer: I like the Armory suggestion -- it's tremendously photogenic, and anyone who grew up in Park Slope has it etched in their memory.

Anyone who grew up in Park Slope also has deep, primitive memories of rooftops and the lovely landscape as seen from rooftops. Are there any Park Slopers who would let xo onto their roofs?
posted by gum at 9:33 PM on August 9, 2007

Ebbets Field
posted by JohnnyGunn at 9:49 PM on August 9, 2007

1 Hanson Place?

Nathan's- Coney Island?

Subway Car?
posted by Izzmeister at 10:10 PM on August 9, 2007

Best answer: The Kentile Floor sign.
posted by unknowncommand at 5:30 AM on August 10, 2007

Suggestion: go to a stock image website like this one and type in the word "Brooklyn." Half the images will be of the bridge, but the other half may give you some good ideas.
posted by saladin at 6:49 AM on August 10, 2007