jill harrison creative

a berry happy weekend

jillysp — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 19:29:02 +0000

Originally published at For the Love of Brooklyn.

If you don’t make it to the greenmarket this week, it’s okay. Just means more for me.

memorial day in prospect park

jillysp — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 19:26:41 +0000

Originally published at For the Love of Brooklyn.

While many of my friends and co-workers escaped the city over Memorial Day weekend this year, I stayed in Brooklyn to relax and enjoy the quiet. Shopping in Manhattan felt like a ghost town and my local grocery store in the South Slope looked like it had been ransacked. I thought practically everyone in my neighborhood had left the city, too.

Until I went to Prospect Park.

The park was teeming with people; smoke from the barbecue grills rose all around us, and hundreds of people blasted festive party music. On a roundabout walk with our picnic blanket in tow, we ventured across the park to the dog beach to watch the puppies romp and the kids light up with joy. Of course I brought my medium format camera along to play, too! Enjoy some shots below of Prospect Park over Memorial Day, and I hope you had a fantastic holiday wherever you were!

nightfall on the south slope

jillysp — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 19:25:13 +0000

Originally published at For the Love of Brooklyn.

Over the last six months, I’ve been experimenting a lot with medium format photography using my beautiful old Mamiya C330F and a variety of films: negatives and slides alike. The experimentation can be both fun and frustrating, but it’s fascinating to see the results when I get them back from the developer every time.

The shots below are a few frames from my first late-night medium format outing around my ‘hood in the South Slope. The ConEd substation at 6th Avenue and 24th Street, a new condo building, even shadows up the block look more dramatic in the moonlight. I can’t wait to go night-exploring again sometime soon!

reflections of south williamsburg

jillysp — Fri, 28 May 2010 19:06:54 +0000

Originally published at For the Love of Brooklyn.

After my recent trip to explore the Domino Sugar Factory, I found myself wandering through the south part of Williamsburg and admiring the eclectic storefronts. Hat milliners, interior designers, lighting specialists and more display their wares along South 8th Street to the soundtrack of the JMZ trains rumbling a block away. For me, this street represents yet another timless vignette and a lovely glimpse of Brooklyn life.

Enjoy the photos below and have a wonderful holiday weekend!

sketches from the past

jillysp — Tue, 25 May 2010 19:06:05 +0000

Originally published at For the Love of Brooklyn.

One of my favorite things about exploring Brooklyn is discovering neighborhoods where time seems to stand still. Conspicuously absent are the neon signs of mobile phone stores, the suburban sameness of fast food joints, shiny new cars and boutiques. Corner bodegas still feature their original throwback signs. Brooklynites of a generation past reign their front stoops to share news and chuckle at passers-by. Even the architecture is preserved, as if from a time capsule.

During our last meetup and photo walk through Gravesend and Brighton Beach, I found many artifacts of eras past. From a mid-century modern parking pagoda to tidy seaside bungalows lined up in a row, it felt like I’d stepped back in time. And for me, there’s a certain comfort in this Brooklyn. Everything changes, and it all stays the same.

the overlooked and overgrown

jillysp — Wed, 12 May 2010 03:00:20 +0000

Originally published at For the Love of Brooklyn.

Sometimes it feels like my experience exploring Brooklyn is an exercise in taxonomy; I must travel along the grid of orderly city blocks, observe the careful landscaping of stately co-ops, respect the dignified stoops of uniform brownstones. I feel compelled to catalog my surroundings and file them away neatly.

But lately what has drawn my attention most is CHAOS. Brooklyn is a borough of vibrant people, of diverse interests, of unbounded creativity and growth. And if you look hard enough, beyond the grid, the landscapes also tell this story. The onset of spring only amplifies the chaos; it’s almost as if nature is trying to overthrow the concrete and asphalt.

During our recent meet-up, I tried to capture this quiet mutiny as we walked through Gravesend and Brighton Beach. And somehow, it seems that the overlooked and the overgrown also speak volumes about this fair borough.

on the waterfront: the domino sugar factory

jillysp — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 03:03:25 +0000

Last Friday night, I got a heads-up text that the Domino Sugar Factory on the waterfront in Williamsburg would be open to the public on Sunday from 12-3pm. Of course I immediately double-checked to make sure the event was on, and then made the rounds on Twitter since I’d (strangely) seen zero publicity about the opening. The factory has been subject to some media controversy recently, as real estate developers hope to take over the partially-landmarked compound and turn it into 2,200+ new mixed-income apartments and condos, along with a public esplanade along the waterfront. Aspiring plans in an economic downturn, to be certain. For more about the political aspects of this project, this article from the New York Times is a good primer and this post at PlanNYC is a good read, too.

As expected, community activists were out in full force distributing pamphlets alongside the large event staff. And the developers made the whole shindig into a family affair: there were stations of free hotdogs, cotton candy, and drinks galore. But of course, we came for the photos. Someday, I dream of getting inside and touring the old factory, but for now these exterior shots below will have to do. What a gorgeous location with a beautiful view of the city!

For more photos from the Domino Sugar Factory, make sure to check out these awesome shots from Lucy Aboytes or this article over at Gothamist!

Originally published at For the Love of Brooklyn.

sunset on the south slope

jillysp — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 03:07:19 +0000

Recent buzz in the NYC blogosphere was all over the NY Mag article which ranked Park Slope, Brooklyn as New York’s ‘most livable neighborhood’ against a number of criteria. Statistician and data mastermind Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight was brought in to do the evaluation, and the gold star was awarded to the Slope thanks to its good schools, low crime, active nightlife and restaurant scene, and a wide array of other marks.

As a South Slope resident for the last 5+ years, I feel a mix of pride and skepticism; any effort at ranking relies on assumptions and generalizations. But there’s one thing I can agree with Nate on: the neighborhood truly is superlative, at least for photos. On a recent walk home, I brought my 35mm along to check out the sunset.

Looking west on Ninth Street: is it all downhill from here?!

Skipping home from school with Mom.

One stop shopping for all your tattoo, banh mi, and vintage houseware needs.

A walk in the park with the family…

Along Seventh Avenue in the South Slope.

Sunset reflecting in the windows of a new art gallery on 17th Street just east of 5th Avenue.

Originally published on For the Love of Brooklyn.

a walk in cadman plaza park

jillysp — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 03:12:09 +0000

One of my favorite places to take a long walk after work is through Cadman Plaza park. Nestled at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge just east of the Heights, the park always has something interesting going on — especially in this beautiful weather. On a recent stroll, the plaza was stuffed to the brim with dog walkers, high school cross country runners, a team of peewee soccer players, and even a martial arts class practicing with their sensei. It’s such a respite from the noisy blare of the BQE, plus the city has done a lovely job of planting gorgeous trees and flowers that are putting on quite the show right now.

Check out some shots below, and many thanks to Gothamist for featuring one of these shots on Friday!

Originally published on For the Love of Brooklyn.

in the kitchen with the good batch

jillysp — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 03:14:37 +0000

Today over at For the Love of Brooklyn, I was invited into the kitchen of Anna Gordon, who owns The Good Batch, a growing bakery company which specializes in Dutch stroopwafels. Anna will be making her first appearance at the Brooklyn Flea on Saturday, and I interviewed / photographed her for the site.

Click here to see the photos and read the interview on For the Love of Brooklyn!