Kia Carbone

People used to tell me I should leave the city and live somewhere else for a while, and I would nod my head in agreement but I honestly never really wanted to leave Brooklyn. Correction: I never wanted to leave the Brooklyn that I was born in, the neighborhood that I grew up in. Unfortunately, that Brooklyn no longer exists and the city I loved so much has actually left me.

Photography was not something that I grew up loving and knowing I wanted to pursue. Aside from wasting rolls of film on my stuffed animals or blurry ?selfies?, I really didn?t think photography was that interesting. It was only after I graduated from art school - after studying any major that didn?t have to do with art - I began to actually look around and notice that the bustling, crazy, gray city of mine was actually gorgeous at sunset. I started to notice during my runs over the bridges that even on rainy days, the skyline was always majestic. I even started to understand why everyone was always traveling from all over the world to come and see this city that I wanted to keep all to myself, and that realization was around the same time that gentrification reared its ugly head.

Each of these scenes are no longer accessible - buildings have either been knocked down, parks built over abandoned waterfronts, bridges no longer accessible, rooftops no longer accessible, empty warehouses made into private residences, and luxury condominiums have soared into the sky overnight, blocking views that we used to have. The photos in this collection are all scenes from a city that will always be a part of me, even if that city has transformed into a foreign world.

Kia Carbone's AutoGallery exhibit

Kia Carbone's website