Arthur Tress’s photographs of the general New York Harbor area for the Documerica project include images of Jamaica Bay, Staten Island, Sheepshead Bay and beaches by the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. Sponsored by the United States Environmental Protection Agency to “photographically document subjects of environmental concern” in the USA from about 1972 to 1977, Tress’s pictures from 1973 were focused on “decay, neglect and the impact of increasing urbanisation”. But 50 years on, they also show us scenes from everyday life. You can buy prints from the project in the Flashbak Shop.
Lifeguard Takes a Sunbath at Great Kills Park on Staten Island – May 1973
School Excursion on the Staten Island Ferry, Crossing Upper New York Bay – June, 1973
Abandoned Car in Jamaica Bay – June 1973 by Arthur Tress
The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge Crosses New York Bay and Connects Staten Island and Brooklyn 06/1973
Municipal Incineration Plant and Landfill Dump at Gravesend Bay Serves is a Playground for Neighborhood Boys May, 1973
South Beach, Staten Island, ‘Is Safe for Swimming’, 1973
Parking Lot at Ferry Dock on Staten Island, May 1973
Sand Covers Abandoned Car on Beach at Breezy Point South of Jamaica Bay – May, 1973
A Small Park on Sheepshead Bay by Arthur Tress, May 1973
At the John F. Kennedy Airport – May 1973
Broad Channel, Marginal Land in Jamaica Bay near the JFK Airport – May 1973
Fish Store in Sheepshead Bay – May 1973
New York Skyline from Staten Island Ferry – May 1973
Young New Yorker Ready to Roar Off on His Honda – 06 1973
Warning of Polluted Water at Staten Island Beach Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in Background – June 1973
This Land Along Jamaica Bay Is Owned by the JFK Airport – June 1973
Sheepshead Bay Fish Store – May 1973
New Housing on Staten Island – June 1973
Lunch in the Car-Hylan Boulevard, Staten Island – 06/1973
Sustenance for the Inner Man at the Sheepshead Bay Annual Art Show – 05/1973
Plum Beach, Sheepshead Bay – 05 1973
Plum Beach on Sheepshead Bay – May 1973
House on Hunter’s Point, Bordering the John F. Kennedy Airport – May 1973
Rusty Oil Cans Pile Up near Home in Broad Channel, a Jamaica Bay Community with Numerous Pollution Problems – 05/1973
Landfill Operation Is Conducted by the City of New York on the Marshlands of Jamaica Bay – 05_1973
Performing for the Photographer on Plum Beach – May 1973
School Children on Their Way Home in Great Kills, on Staten Island – May 1973
Abandoned Ice Cream Wagon at Broad Channel in Jamaica Bay – May 973
Great Kills Park, Staten Island – 05 1973
Abandoned “Giant Slide” at Coney Island – 05/1973
Buy prints from the project in the Flashbak Shop.
Via: US National archives
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