seeing

If you’ve recently misplaced your photographer, you might want to look in Coney Island. They’re all here. With almost everything closed and strolling visitors down to a hearty few, the camera toters have the place to themselves - not necessarily a good thing if you’re looking to capture “scenes from a bench.” But apparently Coney Island does offer photographers - professional, aspiring and selfie takers alike – an outdoor studio of limitless possibility. There are dueling music videos being shot along the boardwalk – one a more DIY approach featuring a young guy showing off some dance moves while mouthing to a pre-recorded song (I assume his), all captured on his partner’s iPhone; and another, more sophisticated production, with a steady cam, hair and make-up team, and what appears to be some well-mapped-out choreography. There’s a fashion shoot underway on the beach; there’s a man who snuck under a half-closed gate grabbing a photo of an old beer sign; and another guy is taking aim at a clump of grass peeking through the boardwalk planks under a bench. (He clearly sees something I don’t.) Of course, there are, as always, lots of guys shooting lots of cellphone photos of girlfriends posing in front of all kind of things. (I can’t remember ever seeing a girlfriend taking a photo of a boyfriend, by the way. Why is that?) Anyway, for me and the benches, a quiet day, though I did capture this image, of the more organized video crew huddling up to review a take and plan their next strut. (That’s your future Youtube legend in the striped leggings.) So, there’s always something.

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