From My heART To Your Soul: ~HELLO BROOKLYN~

Williamsburg is a neighborhood within Brooklyn, New York. The area once purchased by the Dutch West India Company from the Native Americans back in 1638 , has shared it's long history of changes along with the whole City of New York. From the immigrants that settled here in the 1800's to the musicians and artists that would eventually move in by the 1970's due to cheap rent, the influence left by these groups of people is still visible in these streets. The current gentrificiation and rising rent is reshaping this community for better ( or for worse, depending on who you ask). High crime and poverty was on the rise in the 80's along with graffiti ,where artists just wanted to be heard, during these dark/corrupt times in NYC. Dark times, like all in history, eventually would shed light, spark inspiration and a renaissance in art and music that would change the world.

Today, the music such as rock and hiphop once deemed as music for rebels and outlaws, can be heard in some of these high end bars and luxury hotels. Graffiti/Street Art from artists past and present can now be found in galleries and auctioned for thousands of dollars. With a mixture now of illegal and legal/freelanced artwork , these neighborhoods are like free open outdoor galleries. Now that we all have access to a camera and social media these works of art are shared and many of these artists can truly be seen and heard as originally intended around the world.

The Street Art/Graffiti scene along with the various events,bars, and restaurants is what keeps me coming back to Williamsburg and through bordering neighborhoods like Greenpoint and Bushwick ( Where you'll find the Bushwick Collective!). It was actually the Abandoned Domino Sugar Factory that first caught my interest, due to my interest in history. I wanted to snap pictures before the destruction of this refinery that dates back to 1882, when it was the largest sugar refinery in the world.

The first set of pictures I took are from April 2014. I took a nice walk from the Lower East Side in Manhattan and crossed the Williamsburg Bridge.