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Gallery 4 Coney Island |
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NEXT GALLERY
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Way, way before there was Disneyland, there was Coney Island. My mom took us
there a few times in the early thirties, on the excursion boat crossing New York Harbor
from Keansburg, New Jersey. To us, nothing could be more dazzling than Luna Park, nothing funnier than
a fun-house mirror.
It was a time when freak shows were seen as entertaining. Coney Island had both – and
Nathan’s hot dogs. We didn’t realize it but even then this wonder world was
in decline. |
When I took these shots in 1987, Coney Island was a very different place. There were
still arcades and rides, somewhat worn and weary, open for business
only during the summer months. It had become a haven for older retired people,
hat-wearing, warmly-wrapped souls who, I suspect, were quite content in the thin sunshine
with the off-season quiet.
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