Some assignments, some locations, are better than others.
In a surprisingly warm stretch of October, the photographer shot an assignment in Brighton Beach, a neighborhood not terribly far from his apartment in Manhattan. He liked that. He could spend four days there but go home at night to see his wife and pet his cats. He knows the place well, too. He grew up in Brooklyn and Queens and spent years shooting around Coney Island.
This stretch of Brooklyn has changed since then, as all things do, but it’s still special, still a beloved place to dip a toe in the Atlantic. It maintained its individuality, Gilden says. It’s not like where he lives — the same rent-stabilized apartment in SoHo where he has stayed for decades. It changed around him into people who all seem to dress and act the same.
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Brighton Beach? Sure, it’s close to home. But, Gilden says, “it’s an assignment that I liked.”
Bruce Gilden is a street photographer based in New York. He is represented by Magnum Photos.
