Brian Berger is a cultural historian, journalist and street photographer. His book New York Calling: From Blackout to Bloomberg, was published by Reaktion Books of London. Berger wrote the Brooklyn essay, a 1964-2007 chronology and a bunch of other stuff; he also took many photographs in all five boroughs. Marshall Berman wrote the introduction and was his co-editor.
whowalkinbrooklyn.com is a collaborative website published by Brian Berger. It is dedicated to the exploration, culture nd history of Brooklyn— and New York City— as a whole. Writing about or from or inspired by other places, especially Georgia, Florida , Texas, West Africa and the West Indies pops up as well. The opinions herein do not necessarily reflect those of anyone, not even their authors. Caveat lector.
Managing Editor: Rutherford B. Trace
Fiction Editor: Kenny Wisdom
Contributors: Caz Dolowicz, Willis Still Sunsweet, Amber Tides
Hello Brian Berger
I enjoy your site. Is the site name taken from Chandler Brossard’s WHO WALK IN DARKNESS, which I always found to be an interesting beat (perhaps neo-beat or pre-beat or UR-beat) book.?. Just wanted to say “Hey” & introduce myself.. I have written some items (9/11, Patti SMith at Brooklyn Museum, other msuings) that have been picked up by OTBKB and other sites..My site Deep in the Heart of Brooklyn (dithob.blogspot.com)is more a place for my occasional writings to touch down on Earth for a bit. Thanks and take care!
Tony Napoli (Brooklyn Beat)
Hello Brian,
When Frederick Sommer first came to the U.S. in 1925, he spent his first night in Brooklyn before catching a train that took him upstate. With letters of introduction from William Gratwick in hand, Sommer evenually found himself at Cornell University with an opportunity to assist Professor E. Gordon Davis, the head of the Landscape Architecture Department. Late in his life, when people would ask Fred who was the first great teacher he had concerning the art of photography, he would grin and tell them about E. Gordon Davis who had a reputation for making the best photographic slides of all the art and architecture prifessors at Cornell. When asked what his secret was, Davis would smile and say “I always use a tripod”. Sommer would then wax poetica on the importance of the stabilization of the tripod.
Thank you for including the Maestro in your introduction.
Naomi
asst. to Sommer 1985 – 1999
trustee F&FSommer Foundation 1993 -