My father’s early Brooklyn photos are a treasure I didn’t know existed
My father, Irving Kaufman, loved New York. Or at least, as I knew him, he loved Manhattan. But before he loved Manhattan, he loved Brooklyn. And after he loved Manhattan, he still loved Brooklyn.
He was a photographer. His love showed in his photographs. What he loved most, for its own sake, no strings attached, was Brooklyn, then Manhattan: the streets, the stores, the people, the buildings, the skylines, stark urban beauty. Outdoors, where the city could show off. That love is most evident in his early work – mid 1930s through the war years — some for the Eagle, some for local clients, most for his own exploration and growth, all on his own terms.