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Posts Tagged ‘Bruce Handy’

Mystery Artist Carved Faces into Rocks on Coney Island Beach in 1970s

Posted in art, Photo Album, Photography, tagged Bruce Handy, Coney Island Beach, Rock carving on October 5, 2010| 10 Comments »

The largest of several mysterious rock carvings found on Coney Island's Beach. October 1, 2010. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

Two weeks ago we posted Bruce Handy’s photos of an Easter Island-like face carved into a rock on Coney Island’s beach. The photographer had found the carving after a summer-long search set in motion by a mysterious pic I’d seen on twitter. Both of us supposed it was a hoax because we’d neither seen nor heard of any carvings on the beach. Now we know why: the face was buried in the sand!

Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

ATZ thought it would be fun to post Bruce’s first pix of the face as a mystery photo and have readers guess its location. Much to our surprise, Jack Szwergold, a reader who grew up in the neighborhood, quickly replied with the correct answer as well as memories of the carver:

I was a kid, so what I remember is a leathery, shirtless tanned old man with white hair and facial hair. I was born in 1968, so I would say I saw the guy carving this between 1976 and 1979. Yeah, a huge swath of time, but I know it was not earlier than that. Definitely looks “smoother” due to age than I remember it.

No idea who the guy was but there is an equal chance he’s a artist or one of the many transient “characters” Brighton’s cheap rent attracted. Or perhaps a mix of both?

Who knows exactly. What a magical, weird place the neighborhood was back then.

Oh, for what it’s worth I always thought it was an American Indian. As an adult it looks a tad Aztec to my eyes.

One of the faces carved into rocks on Coney Island's Beach. September 25, 2010. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

Since then Bruce Handy and friends have discovered and photographed five more carvings. You can see his set of photos on flickr. Here are excerpts from Bruce’s “Easter Island” in Coney Island Diary:

9/25/10
I found one more face, that makes five, 3 small ones on one rock, one big
one and the one I found today: medium size on the rock closest to the shore.
Now for the strange part. The big face is 80% covered with sand. I had to dig
out the top portion. I thought at first someone had removed the rock from
the beach. After about ten minutes I found the upper portion. So the ocean has
returned the sand. Until the next hurricane, the face will remain hidden.

10/1/10 – TS Nicole has released Mr. Easter from the silent sorrowful sand giving him a brief glimpse of the Sun today.

Unfinished. October 3, 2010. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

10/2/10 – Jim V discovered another face, a profile on the corner of a rock….

10/3/10 – Sand is coming back, Mr. Easter is 1/2 covered. A Russian man exercising before his swim points out a bas relief face on the east side closer to the water. Another abstract face, maybe unfinished, is also discovered near the boardwalk.

Bas relief carved into rocks on Coney Island's Beach, October 3, 2010. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

Mystery Photo: Easter Island-Like Face on Coney Island Beach

Posted in art, Photography, tagged Bruce Handy, Coney Island Beach, mystery photo, Neptune, stone carving, stone face on September 21, 2010| 8 Comments »

Guess Where. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

ATZ first learned of the existence of this stone face on Coney Island’s beach last spring via a tweeted photo. Since its exact location was not tweeted, we asked Coney Island resident and photographer Bruce Handy if he knew. After a summer-long search, Bruce finally found and photographed the Easter Island-like stone face carved into a rock on Coney Island’s beach! “I like how the people are laying on the rocks, unaware of the Easter Face,” he says.

Guess Where. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

Can you guess the stone face’s location? Hint: It is somewhere between Seagate and Brighton–all of which was Coney Island when Coney was an island. If anyone knows who carved the rock and when, please leave a comment below. Hey, maybe the Easter Islanders made a trip to Coney Island?! Or is it a depiction of Neptune, the god of the sea?

Guess Where. Photo © Bruce Handy/Pablo 57 via flickr

Coney Island Photography Workshop with Kevin C Downs

Posted in Photography, tagged Bruce Handy, Coney Island, Coney Island USA, documentary photo, Kevin C Downs, photography workshop, street photography, Suzy Lafferty on June 16, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Coney Island, Ruby's, Mermaid Day Parade 2007. Photo © Kevin C Downs

Kevin Downs’ annual summer photo documentary workshop at Coney Island USA began earlier this month, but there’s still time to join. Consider it your passport to see Coney in a new light all summer long. The Saturday sessions, which continue through September 4, generally begin with a review at noon in the Coney Island Museum and go through the evening. Tuition is a very reasonable $300. From the course description:

Throughout its history, Coney Island has drawn many famous photographers: from Walker Evans to Weegee; Lou Stettner to Bruce Gilden. All have come to document this part of Brooklyn that is full of energy and creativity.

During this workshop, students will be documenting the changing conditions of this historic and magical place. Students will be shooting during the day and night, the icons of Coney Island: the Cyclone, Deno’s Wonder Wheel, the Mermaid Parade, and the personalities that inhabit the Boardwalk and the surrounding areas, from the water to Mermaid Avenue, developing their powers of observaton and their techniques.

Students will be asked to think of a specific documentary theme to focus on for the entire 14 sessions. Some examples could include: “The People of Coney Island”, “Architecture of Coney Island”, etc. The documentary theme can be anything that tells a story and documents the people, architecture and/or landscape of Coney Island. All themes must be approved by the instructor.

Coney Island, The Zipper from The Last Days of Coney Island and The Real Brooklyn. Photo © Kevin C Downs

Full disclosure: Kevin Downs as well as workshop participants Bruce Handy and Suzy Lafferty are friends of ATZ. We’ve learned a lot about photography from looking at their flickr photostreams and have selected their photos for our magazine articles and blog posts.

Coney Island resident and ATZ contributor Bruce Handy has taken Kevin’s class for the past three seasons and has assembled an impressive flickr set of his favorite photos from the workshop. “Kevin is an excellent teacher who brings 125% to the table,” says Bruce. “Our classes last year included field trips to see famous photographers, among them Louis Stettner. At least four times last year prominent photographers were guest lecturers at our class. Kevin arranges all this with joy. Kevin is a champion of Coney Island. He brings out the best in people. He is a very humble person, a passionate, natural teacher.”

Suzy Lafferty’s photos from the 2009 workshop appear on her blog Satsuma’s Junkyard, beginning with the Coney Island Dancers in Coney #1 and ending with a couple kissing at twilight on Henderson Walk. Says Suzy: “After having gone to grad school for photojournalism, a rather mummifying experience, Kevin’s workshop helped me to resurrect my love of photography: the search and the longing and the state of being that defines documentary photography for me.”

On the Boardwalk, Coney Island. Photo © Kevin C Downs

Suzy describes the Coney Island Workshop: “We would gather and talk about photography for hours, often losing track of time, and then we would set out in droves or make solitary rounds of the candy apples, the atlantic splash zone, or the boardwalk, seeking our moments or following a story. The class was the rarest of finds. It’s dimensions stretch three months in length, it costs close to nothing, and the hours each Saturday are sprawling. Many times Kevin stayed out with us until midnight, roaming and combing the night for twisted and heartfelt tales.”

For info contact Kevin C Downs at kevincdownsphoto@mac.com or 917-607-3935. Kevin’s website is kevincdownsphoto.com. You can register online at Coney Island USA’s website.