Walking with Eugene Armbruster

It’s shocking how fast July and August have slipped by, but at least the weather is still good. One of my favorite ways to enjoy both this weather and this city is to wander around with a camera. Based on the images in the Eugene L. Armbruster photographs and scrapbooks collection, that appears to have also been one of Armbruster’s favorite pastimes. Flipping through Armbruster’s photographs, it is easy to imagine him wandering around different neighborhoods in Brooklyn in the 1920s, taking pictures of whatever seemed interesting or beautiful in the moment. The four images above appear to have been taken during one walk around Williamsburg in November of 1923. There isn’t anything especially interesting about what is happening in these images, but the late afternoon light on the buildings is beautiful, and Armbruster was clearly enjoying the light. I love these images because viewing them as a collection almost feels like going for a walk with Armbruster. Day to day, I tend to go blindly between places without really noticing the sensations of whatever is happening along the way. Seeing Armbruster’s images is an inspiration to enjoy the in-between parts of the day, and to notice things like the light hitting the buildings. It’s almost Labor Day, but there is still time to go wandering like Eugene Armbruster did, with or without your camera, and enjoy the Dog Days of summer…

Interested in seeing more photos from BHS’s collection? Visit our online image gallery, which includes a selection of our images. Interested in seeing even more historic Brooklyn images? Visit our new website here.  To search BHS’s entire collection of images, archives, maps, and special collections visit BHS’s Othmer Library Wed-Sat, 1:00-5:00 p.m.

 

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