Coney Island Photographs 1986–88

In the summer of 1986 I traveled to Coney Island to investigate the place and people, the strange artifacts, remnants of an older time and a style of art that reminded me of the 1940's. Soon after I began photographing, Michael, a tattooed man approached me and asked me if I would take his photograph. This broke the ice for me, and I felt comfortable being there, hanging out and watching what went on, usually on the boardwalk. The Sideshow at the Seashore was a big draw, and I often watched the performance, which occurred every 20 minutes. The performers would come out and entice people to come in to the sideshow to watch them perform their specific act or trick. Michael was covered in black, with only his arm sticking out. Everyone wondered what else was underneath. Ruby the snake lady would come out with a snake wrapped around her and let it engulf her body. Melvin would tantalize the crowd with his hammer and nail that he could pound into the nostril of his nose. There was also the woman who swallowed a sword, and the man who could take a lighted cigarette and turn it inside his mouth without burning himself. It was fascinating to watch, and I often heard the performers complain about a grueling schedule.

I would generally photograph during the latter part of the day and loved the changing light as I worked. I was fascinated by all the people who made a living there. I met a man with a stuffed tiger on a board with wheels which he moved about on the boardwalk. Children and adults clamored to have their pictures taken sitting on the tiger for five dollars a pop. I got to know this man with the tiger. He told me that he was married, had several children, and lived in the Bronx. He had obtained the tiger and also a panther from a wealthy man he had worked for who willed them to him after his death. Using his imagination, he decided to go to Coney Island on the train with the tiger and a Polaroid camera to take pictures of people, who sat on the stuffed animals for a photo. After a full day of wheeling the tiger around on wheels he would leave with a wad of money in his pocket on a Saturday or Sunday. One day I drove him and the tiger home in my hatchback Mercury and dropped both of them off on 125th Street in Harlem. As he exited my car on a Sunday night, a trove of people came around to look at the tiger. I thought that this man was very smart. He used photography and his wits to support his family and himself.

I noticed the macabre in some of my work. Screaming nudes and busy textures mixed with calm are present in some of the photographs. Coney Island was a very seedy, decrepit place. Falling apart, it was a wreck that once had been fun but now seemed sad. I always, however, looked forward to the reward of a hot dog at Nathan's, and the soft vanilla ice cream as part of the trip. I saw that there were people and children there who were not like me. People who probably struggled to earn a living, but were having fun. It was a place with people I was unfamiliar with, and fascinating.