Architecture, Photo Essay, Photography
by William Ruben Helms

Photography: Park Slope, Brooklyn

Photography: Park Slope, Brooklyn

Tuesday was a long, exhausting and emotional day. I was supposed to meet a friend with the intention of taking shots. My friend was delayed, so I decided I’d stop at Clem’s for a pint or three of Guinness while I waited for her to come by. But as I was heading to Clem’s, a music friend from Chicago texted me and said “Chauvin verdict. 4:30.” Unsurprisingly that changed things up quickly.

When I got to Clem’s, I was full of dread and unease, and I sat outside with a pint of Guinness, nervously watching CNN. With each guilty verdict, I pounded on the small metal table and exclaimed loudly “Yes! Yes! Yes!” And then I burst into tears. When my friend, who also managed to get stuck in traffic, finally arrived, she saw me crying messy tears of exhaustion, anger, sadness, despair and relief, and saying repeatedly “They (the jury) saw him as a man. Just a man. They saw him as just a man.”

After being there much longer than intended, we decided to go to Grand Army Plaza just to see what was going on and we briefly joined a march/ride that sadly we had to pull out from because I had to use the bathroom and she had work the next day. But all in all a very emotional and strange day. Check out some photos below.

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Caption: Grand Army Plaza at sunset. This particular shot (and moment) was probably one of the most gorgeous things I’ve seen in the past few weeks.
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Caption: Small Moon, Grand Army Plaza: At one point, i looked up and saw the Moon. And yes, it was about that tiny at the time.
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Caption: Bike ride and march for George Floyd. Of course, every one of these protests reminds me that there’s so much work to do — and that I may not live to see the changes we need actually happen.
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Caption: Park Slope Brownstone at Sunset. Park Slope is arguably one of the loveliest parts of town. I love the old brownstones; I love them so much that it’s a dream of mine to live in one — and have an office/den/studio where i could work, much like The Cosby Show.
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Caption: Seeing a Black Lives Matter sign in the window of a Park Slope Brownstone made my heart sing.
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Caption: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn: I can tell you from experience that trees do indeed grow in Brooklyn — especially those with gorgeous flowers, like this one in front of a Park Slope brownstone.
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Caption: Keep Going: This piece of artwork, seen at a construction site across the street from Grand Army Plaza was a fitting yet serendipitous discovery. We need to keep going y’all. There’s a lot of work to do.

For these photos and a few more, check out the Flickr set here: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmVmGGZu

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