Stephen Salmieri: Coney Island — Stephen Salmieri (American, born 1945). *Coney Island*, 1971. Gelatin silver photograph, image: 8 × 10¹⁄₈ in. (20.3 × 25.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Edward Klein, 82.201.48. ©Stephen Salmieri. (Photo: Sarah DeSantis, Brooklyn Museum)

Stephen Salmieri (American, born 1945). Coney Island, 1971. Gelatin silver photograph, image: 8 × 10¹⁄₈ in. (20.3 × 25.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Edward Klein, 82.201.48. ©Stephen Salmieri. (Photo: Sarah DeSantis, Brooklyn Museum)

George Bradford Brainerd: Bathers, Steel Pier, Coney Island

George Bradford Brainerd (American, 1845–1887). Bathers, Steel Pier, Coney Island, circa 1880–85; printed 1940s. Gelatin silver photograph, image: 7⁵⁄₈ x 12 in. (19.4 × 30.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Museum Collection, X894.149. (Photo: Sarah DeSantis, Brooklyn Museum)

The couple at the center of this photograph has donned swimming costumes appropriate for a day on the beach. Until the early twentieth century, women wore bathing dresses or long tunics over bloomers, all of which were made from heavy, often wool, fabric to prevent the clothing from rising up in the water. Men also had to observe the rules of propriety—they were not allowed to bare their chests on Coney Island beaches until the late 1930s.

Irving Underhill: Luna Park and Surf Avenue, Coney Island

Irving Underhill (American, 1872–1960). Luna Park and Surf Avenue, Coney Island, 1912. Gelatin dry glass plate negative. Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Museum/Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn Collection, 1996.164.8-B19045. (Photo: Althea Morin, Brooklyn Museum)

Unknown artist. Modern Venus of 1947, Coney Island, 1947. Gelatin silver photograph, image: 10³⁄₄ x 13⁷⁄₈ in. (27.3 × 35.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Museum Collection, X894.18. (Photo: Christine Gant, Brooklyn Museum)

In this photograph, Chris Holley, winner of the twenty-seventh annual Modern Venus beauty contest, waves to the crowds from the Parachute Jump, a ride that debuted at the 1939 New York World’s Fair before being moved to Steeplechase Park in 1941. Based on a design patented by a retired Naval commander to train paratroopers, the Parachute Jump was a symbol of war that became a popular amusement ride, particularly with men who had served in World War II.

Harry Lapow (American, 1909–1982). Untitled (Buried Alive), circa 1960s or 1970s. Gelatin silver photograph, image: 12¹⁄₈ x 9¹⁄₁₆ in. (30.8 × 23 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the artist, 82.148.6. © Estate of Harry Lapow. (Photo: Sarah DeSantis, Brooklyn Museum)

Harry Lapow began frequenting Coney Island to capture quirks of the beach and boardwalk after receiving a Ciroflex camera on his forty-third birthday. He was intrigued by the camera’s ability to isolate details and fleeting moments of everyday life. Here, a toddler’s crossed legs appear above the head of a buried woman whose eyes are covered by a floral towel. In cropping this beach sighting, Lapow crafts a surprising juxtaposition, forming an unlikely dynamic between the lively child and the masked adult.

Here are some questions visitors asked us during their visit to this exhibition.

On your next visit, use our app to ask your own questions, get info, and share insights by texting with our team of knowledgeable and friendly experts.

What would people at this time period wear in the water? Definitely not this, right?

Swimwear was significantly more conservative in the past, and this photograph was from the mid-19th century. I'm not sure exactly what people wore into the water at this time, I'm not entirely certain that swimwear separate from regular clothing had been invented. I know as recently as the 1920's wool dresses and body suits were the norm for bathing.

Because of this, would they swim or play in the water less?

You are most likely correct. The development of more practical attire was driven by the rising popularity of beach-going in the 20th century. If you find George Bradford Brainerd's "Bathers, Steel Pier, Coney Island" in the same gallery, you'll see what people wore into the water in the 1880's

What would they do on the beach? Because according to the pictures there were tons of people!

At the dawn of Coney Island as a destination, there were entertainments on the beach. You can see a painting of puppet show for example in the first gallery of Coney Island: Visions of a American Dreamland. These entertainments developed into attractions on the Boardwalk. The Boardwalk at Coney Island (on a conceptual level) predates the kind of beachgoing you see in Ross's 1946 photograph.

You're looking at a work by Lynn Hyman Butler "Wonder Wheel at Night." Its one of the few color works on view in Forever Coney. Though the technique used to make it is very different from traditional color photography. Would you like to hear more about Butler's process for making this (I warn you it is very photo-techy!)

Thank you. That is what I wanted to know! I have no idea about "silver dye bleach technique".

The simplest explanation is that as the only available method to create handmade photographic prints directly from color slide film. It is a direct-positive, meaning that no negatives are created or used, unlike traditional color processes. Yellow, magenta and cyan dyes are incorporated into a white-opaque polyester based paper and bleached during processing to reveal their latent color. Likely the artist shot these images in her large format camera with a slow exposure, to achieve the motion blur. and later altered the color effects in the developing in the dark room.

The artist has said, "I try to capture the sense of time passing. I hope that the photographs will be a reminder that we are on the edge of a century in which the fate of many life forms, including our own, will be determined, and the decision of whether to save or relinquish landscapes such as these will be of increasing urgency."

Amazing. Thanks for the answer. This is very helpful!

You're welcome! It is a truly difficult process, and increasingly rare as production of the materials has recently ended.

Forever Coney: Photographs from the Brooklyn Museum Collection

November 20, 2015–March 13, 2016

As one of America’s first seaside resorts, Coney Island has attracted adventurous visitors and undergone multiple transformations, inspiring photographers since the mid-nineteenth century.

Forever Coney: Photographs from the Brooklyn Museum Collection features forty-two images that celebrate the people and places that make up Coney Island. The earliest works, taken by photographers such as George Bradford Brainerd and Irving Underhill, document the resort from the post–Civil War period through the turn of the twentieth century. Later artists such as Harry Lapow and Stephen Salmieri have photographed the many personalities that have passed through the site.

The photographers included in this exhibition are George Bradford Brainerd, Lynn Hyman Butler, Anita Chernewski, Victor Friedman, Kim Iacono, Sidney Kerner, Harry Lapow, Nathan Lerner, Jack Lessinger, H.S. Lewis, John L. Murphy, Ben Ross, Stephen Salmieri, Edgar S. Thomson, Arthur Tress, Irving Underhill, Breading G. Way, Eugene Wemlinger, and Harvey R. Zipkin.

Forever Coney: Photographs from the Brooklyn Museum Collection is organized by Connie H. Choi, Assistant Curator of American Art, Brooklyn Museum. It is presented in conjunction with the exhibition Coney Island: Visions of an American Dreamland, 1861–2008.

This exhibition is made possible by the Eugénie Prendergast Fund for American Art, given by Jan and Warren Adelson.