The submissions are in, photographer Travis Magee has made his selections, and we have rounded out the 12 finalists for this year’s Brooklyn Navy Yard photo contest. We had a narrow field of photographs this season – interestingly, though the October tour was sold out, it included a number of photographers using large-format cameras, which don’t necessarily lend themselves to uploading to Instagram. But I’m sure they all got amazing shots on this glorious day.
Two of the three selections were from the same photographer, Allison Gershin, and while the second captures the season so well, they both illustrate the wondrously sharp light we had on that fall morning. The first comes from the south edge of Building 131 (on the left of the frame), where the vestiges of railroad tracks still crisscross the streets. I love how the dumpster is out in the middle of the road, almost teetering on the edge of disaster; you half-expect a train to come around the bend and smash right through it.
Allison’s second photo is from the Brooklyn Naval Hospital, which has several windows covered over with plywood. It appears as if nature has secured those boards in place in its own way.
And the third finalist comes to us from Amanda Briggs, who shot from the northern corner of Building 131, capturing a low angle of the steel rails. While in Allison’s photo, the building looks sturdy and timeless (except for the pair of A/C brackets just barely jutting out from the windows at the top left of the frame), in Amanda’s piece, it looks unsteady, tangled and encased in electrical wires, satellite TV dishes, and window bars.
Congratulations again to our photographers, and we will be posting the 12 finalists from 2014 in the coming days. There are two prizes up for grabs: the Photographers Choice Award, which will be selected by this year’s four participating BLDG 92 Visiting Artists, and the People’s Choice Award, which will be decided by both online voting on this website as well as paper ballot voting in the lobby of BLDG 92, where all 12 works will be on display for the next few months, starting in early December.
Turnstile Tours offers the Seasonal Photography Tour of the Brooklyn Navy Yard four times throughout the year. The first tour of the 2015 season will be Sunday, January 25 at 11am (tickets will go on sale shortly). Get more information here, and advance ticket purchase is highly recommended. We also offer our Past, Present & Future Tour of the Brooklyn Navy Yard every Saturday and Sunday 2-4pm, and other special themed tours of the Yard. All tours are offered in partnership with and begin at the Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at BLDG 92, which offers free admission to three floors of exhibitions on the yard’s past and present and a host of great special events and programs.
