Rust Belt of New York by Maureen Drennan

Manufacturing industries were once vital and significant in New York City but have fallen into decline. Unfortunately, to be working class in New York today is to be largely marginalized.

I explored neighborhoods along the waterways in Brooklyn and they defy a standard definition and narrative. I thought the buildings would dominate but actually the primacy of nature is what stood out. The areas along the water are surprisingly quiet and tranquil. The high grass in abandoned lots is lush, flowers and trees poke through every possible crevice. In the summer the air is heavy with the buzzing of insects and birdcalls.

While photographing these industrial areas I met, listened to, and photographed a multitude of New Yorkers. The people I met opened up to me but weren’t interested in discussing politics, they wanted to talk about their jobs and families. I am drawn to photograph people and places on the edges, where the land and community are fragile or in transition. Perhaps what attracts me to these peripheral spaces is the brand of fierce independence engendered in their inhabitants.

While intentionally wandering and photographing it felt like these old manufacturing areas, quiet neighborhoods, and forgotten areas and the people in them were like a backbone of New York even though they are not in the spotlight.

Maureen Drennan lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
To view more of Maureen’s work, please visit her website.