You Never Notice ...

I must have passed it thousands of time from when I first moved to Staten Island. After all it was just a 5 minute stroll (maybe 6 blocks) from my house. I drove my car down Rossville Avenue and faced it countless times - but I never registered its presence. But then a few years ago when I got my first digital SLR camera and was searching for photo ops, I decided to check out the small burial ground that I had noticed many times.

I mounted the stone stairs that lead up from the road to the burial ground and it was then that I first spotted a rusting ship in the Arthur Kill behind the colonial graveyard. (I usually keep my photos on my photo blog, Gathered Images, but this is about seeing parts of my neighborhood that I had seen but did not see before.)

I stood in the opening that overlooked the Kill and for the first time realized that there were a number of ships half submerged in the water and all rusting away.

So I now had two burial grounds to photograph. (Here are the shots from that first time shoot.)

I have returned to that spot a number of times to photograph the ships a number of times, including after Superstorm Sandy to see how - if at all - the hurricane had affected the area. (You can see those shots by clicking here.)

I didn't yet know that this area was quite well known and well photographed over the years.

You can also read about it here.

Then this past weekend, I joined a number of other photographers to once again photograph the shipyard. In the past I had played it safe and photographed the ships and docks visible from the hill where the colonial burial ground sat. This time I walked down into the bog that is the shoreline. After taking some pictures here ... and thanks to the resident of the adjoining home giving us permission to walk through her back yard - we ventured further into the depths of the shipyard. (In addition to what you see here you can also see some of my shots on my photography blog both here and here.)

So next time you are walking through your own neighborhood be aware of what you have around you. You may find things you never realized existed.