The Gowanus Canal. What can I say?
I fell in love with the dirtiest thing I could find in Brooklyn, New York. I’ve photographed this cesspool for 35-years and I’ve never thought of it as a cesspool. But boy that is what most pepole thought. Granted, it is a Superfund site, and it has cost well over a billion dollars to clean it up. So then what happens? The developers decide, Let’s fuck it up and make it where it is really hard for normal people to enjoy it now that it is safe.
Welcome to the new Gowanus. I like the old one better.
Feel free to contact me with any questions regarding any piece you have interest in!
Every picture has a story.
Since 2016, the patch of graffiti on a warehouse by the Carroll Street Bridge on the bank of the Gowanus Canal welcomed visitors with the tagline “Welcome to Venice” with the signature “Love Jerko.”
But just like the Canal itself, it became a victim of gentrification. The former home of Alex Figliolia Water & Sewer, the 65,000-square-foot industrial building disappeared without a trace. On my first visit to the canal since the pandemic struck, I had one of those “Oh No” moments when I drove across the historic Carroll Street Bridge and realized the graffiti covered wall was gone. Not just gone but obliterated like it had never been there.
The GOWANUS CANAL
by Mark D Phillips
Gowanus Dinosaurs
Low Tide Junk
Africa in Gowanus
Oil Woman Gowanus
Gowanus Leaf
Gowanus SWIRLS
Canal Watercolors
The Left Bank
ISBRANDTSEN
Gowanus Tryptych
