Welcome to Bushwick, Brooklyn: The home of bodegas, reggae-ton, construction and art. In just two years, there has been an overwhelming change in the face of this neighborhood. There are coffee shops filled with art (my favorite being the Orwell Cafe), a handful of restaurants, and plenty of art galleries boasting the fresh talent of this hood and others (learn about galleries). I cannot tell you how exciting it is to live in a neighborhood before it has become “cute.” Do not forget that there was a time, not so long ago, when Williamsburg was VERY dangerous, and when you were more likely to find a dirty syringe than a boutique in the Lower East Side.
Since moving to New York my personal photography has morphed from very composed pop portraits to a mix of life and urban landscapes. I have found some of the most fascinating things to photograph in my very own backyard–or more realistically, my very own garbage heap (Bushwick is wonderful, but it ain’t pristine). The color palette, row houses, and both destruction and construction create a new landscape.
Within these images there is a vast array of street art which, you may or may not know, is HUGE in the art world right now (Banksy, Shepard Fairey!). Decorating the walls of Bushwick you can find C215, Swoon, Faile, Jef Aerosol and other up-and-comers. Making a name for themselves, each of these artists (yes, ARTISTS) has a technique so unique that it is impossible to pass them by. Look out! –> bushwick art (my photos will be updated frequently)
Thinking about moving to Bushwick? Here’s some more info: Bushwick
BrooklynIngredients 
i, too, just adore our precocious corner of the world, chloe. i couldn’t agree more that its beauty lives in its development. i was just thinking about the changing of nyc neighborhoods the other night as i was taking in a show (http://www.myspace.com/robbiegil) at the red lion on bleecker. i glanced out of the window of this cool little club and noticed the shops that inhabit the corners of bleecker and thompson. from my view i could see a capital one bank on one side and a cvs on the other. the street was super lively with construction, cabs and midnight wanderers but i just thought how different it must have looked in, say 1974. never in a million would those corporate institutions have stood a chance at success or patronship in great the bohemian world that was (and is no longer, though goodness knows we wish it was) the west village. its a little bit sad and i feel (and have found agreement from a number of people who lived through the great hippie hayday of new york city in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s) like we’re at a point of no return in corporate and superficial new york. we’ll always have the unique nooks and crannies that make this city like no other place on earth but on the whole, and certainly on the facade, it seems that rock and roll may very well be dead. the power, money and greed that runs rampant in this city has overtaken the carnal desire for just survival. its no longer enough to just get by and be happy and dance in the streets. there is a sense of needing to be bigger, better, richer, happier, sleeker, cooler, fancier, friendlier, faster, fitter, and more FABULOUS to succeed here. when did competition become about being better than others rather than being a better person than you were yesterday? its a rough, fast paced world out there but i’m happy coasting home to bushwick on my bike and sitting on the fire escape, playing harmonica, and taking in all of the changes in the neighborhood….interested and engaged but quitely fighting the slow creeping in of logos and big names. i’d take my bodega over a cvs anyday.
amazing. could not agree with you more.