Mamiyaroid 41

Coney Island Pre-Season

Before we get to the photos, I want to give you a preview of what’s to come on Mamiyaroid:

• Aura Photography

• An Essay on Superstition & Photography (A re-run from my blog, but I suspect many have not seen this.)

• An Interview with a young female NYC photographer, discussing her street altar project

• An Interview with a veteran female photographer, discussing her transition from the analog darkroom to the digital darkroom, working with leading photographers of the day as a master printer( Gregory Crewdson, for example).

I looked at the weather forecast and saw it was going to be mostly rain for the foreseeable so I took the train to Coney Island last Thursday to take advantage of the last of the sun and capture the pre-season lull.

As I’ve noted in the last few issues, I’ve been getting back into the public and I’ve enjoyed talking to strangers, even when it’s awkward. Last week I took some (unsuccessful) photos of a man playing disco hits off a giant speaker, and another man dancing along. The dancing man asked me where I was from and I said, “New York”. He laughed. He said he thought I was a tourist because I had two cameras with me. Later I gave him a dollar after seeing he took tips, and he wanted to hug me but he must have seen the look on my face because he said, “It’s ok! I understand.” I felt bad but I said, “I’m not really a hugger, and we’re also still in a pandemic.” We did an elbow bump, instead.

As things start to open up and people return to New York, I hope to photograph strangers more. Not necessarily to formally ask what this moment means, but to intuit it from the photographs and interactions.

All photos in this set taken with Fuji xPro2. I didn’t stage this one. I noticed the bee on its side and the next time I looked over someone had given it some dignity by setting it upright.

I got there just in time for the end of this Brooklyn Cyclones press conference.

Puerto Rican musicians set up here and this was one of their mascots

One disappointment was much of the iconic neon signage remained unlit, even after dark.

I don’t normally go chasing sunsets, but it felt good to sit and wait through the golden hour, through sunset and see all the shades develop across the sky.

Until next time…

Adalena

I love to receive comments and questions about photography and cameras!

My email: adalenakavanagh@gmail.com

Instagram: @mamiyaroid (instant/film) @5redpandas (personal)

Twitter: @adalenakavanagh

Also, if you’re thinking of buying Polaroid film for the first time, here is my referral code, which gets you 10% off, and I get some reward points.

Original photography prints: adalenakavanagh.bigcartel.com (I change out the shop every month of so. If you see something you like, let me know, I’m happy to make you a print.)

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-Adalena Kavanagh