Red Hook Brooklyn

Every once in a while, I get to do a shoot where everything comes together seamlessly. I spend a lovely day in the company of friends and we make something modest but beautiful together. I had such a shoot yesterday in Red Hook, where I took these photos for Layla.

Red Hook is an amazing, seemingly forgotten corner of New York. In the 1990s, Life magazine named it one of the worst neighborhoods in the United States and as the "crack capital of America." A friend of mine, Harriet, lived there at the time, and it was known as "Bloody Hook." Now there is a mix of artists and industries thriving in the neighborhood and the place has the feel of a frontier town. Red Hook still boasts one of the largest housing projects in the city, and the area is not served by any subway line. But it is on the water, with views of the Statue of Liberty, and it is home to the thriving Red Hook Community Farm, on the site of an old asphalt playing field. The farm operates all year round and employs local youths from the low-income neighborhood. Red Hook also has some of the best food trucks, serving the incomparable Salvadoran specialty pupusa in the summer months.