Rocco Galatioto, nice photos and good food

Coney Island was in a terrible state in the seventies. Since then, it has been gentrified and even become sort of upscale. This image was made with a Leica M4 and the 50mm Summicron F 2 lens. As lways, the film was Kodak Tri-X.  

  There's something unsettling when visiting Coney Island off season. It's like looking at a skeleton. But it always allows the taking of interesting photos.

 

Sometimes only black and white does justice to an image. A Leica with a Summicron lens also helps. Long ago in the fall when Coney Island goes to sleep but is full of photo ops. Naturally, the film was Kodak Tri-X Pan.

The seventies saw a terrible decline in New York City. This was especially true of Coney Island in Brooklyn that had been all but abandoned and because of ill conceived Plans by the state's housing authority, it was almost razed in favor of more public housing that soon became new high rise slums. This was before gentrification that also had it's negative aspects. At any rate, Coney Island has made a great come back. Here we see that very famous parachute ride in total decay. Today it's restored as a monument not as a ride and is wonderfully lit up at night. Of course things were much different then. These are 35mm Ektachrome slides that I developed in Unicolor chemicals. The colors are not as good as Kodachrome II but nothing ever was. The classic bluish cast of Ektachrome is evident in the resulting scans.

Life is really a roller coaster and in these times it's one on steroids. But as the embattled Italian say: "andrà tutto bene," it will end up OK. Let's hope so. 

This is a vintage street shot. I used a Nikon S 2 rangefinder camera with a Nikkor 3.5 cm or 35 mm F: 3.5 lens. Naturally, the film was Tri-X instead of t Max 400 that was all the rage then but I did not like it's tonality and the fact that it scratched easily. This was another Kodak misstep that lead to it's unfortunate demise. 

When hurricane Sandy all but devastated Coney Island, the response was to rebuild and as a result a new, clean, modern and somewhat upscale place came to being. Some areas away from the boardwalk kept that old and rather rundown feel but the place is much improved. On a winter day one can see Coney Island at rest and it's fascinating.

Coney Island if full of die hard sun worshippers always trying to bask in the sun.    

I used to engage in much street photography. My main tools were my Leicas  and my Nikon rangefinders. I would always make sure that the subject was amenable no sniping with long telephotos. Most people did not mind having their picture taken if you asked. This image was shot in Coney Island on a bright winter day with a Nikon SP and Tri-X Pan. It is a strange photo in a way but I love it.

Faces on the boardwalk in Coney Island in the eighties. Those were the days when true street photography was still king. 

For a time, this famous beach and playground appeared doomed. After hurricane Sandy  the restoration to the beach and boardwalk led to a revitalization of the many rides and other trendy stores followed. Even Nathan's was refurbished. It is now a very nice place to go to iPhone image iPhone image .

Actually many years ago. These shots date from 1972 and were shot on Kodachrome II with a Leica M-4 and a 35mm Summicron F2 lens.

In its glory days Coney Island had three major roller coasters; today only the Cyclone remains. Here are photos of all three shot in 1974. The Cyclone The Tornado The Thunderbolt

Actually Coney Island in the early seventies at rest. I love this place when the people are gone and it assumes a very tense but peaceful appearance. These were all shot with the Leica M-4 with different slide films.

My how time flies, these were shot 11 years ago! This lovely minor league park in Coney Island is home of the Brooklyn Cyclones. It was built not over the Cyclone roller coaster but on the site of the old Tornado roller coaster and right under the old parachute. Needless to say it was a memorable evening in a stadium that makes the game very close an d personal.

Photos are everywhere if you keep a sharp eye. In Italian we call it "occiho vivo." These doors were on a side street in Coney Island. It was the fall of 1973 and t hey were shot with the Nikon F and the 105 F 2.5 Nikkor lens. The film was Ektachrome 100 in bulk that I developed in Unicolor chemicals. Those were fun days although much of the day was spent in the dark.

It's true, I miss Coney Island when I'm in Sicily. I'm really very attached to the Big Apple.