Photos that capture the real Brooklyn kids of the ’60s

Photos that capture the real Brooklyn kids of the ’60s
Arty anarchy — Taken while she was a student at the prestigious Pratt Institute, Constance Hansen’s newly uncovered images expose the real outsiders of the 1960s New York.

In the wake of riots that began after the United States government ordered the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Daniel Patrick Moynihan, an urban affairs adviser to President Nixon, introduced a policy called “benign neglect” that would change the course of American history. The policy proposed systemic denial of basic government services to African-American and Latinx neighbourhoods across the nation, resulting in a massive collapse that decimated the people for well over a decade.

The Clinton Hill section of Brooklyn, home to the Pratt Institute, was one such neighbourhood to fall into disrepair. Yet from the destruction, a new culture was coming to bear.

Constance Hansen, one half the husband-and-wife team of Guzman, has just unearthed photographs of this pivotal era taken while she was a student at the Pratt Institute from 1969- 1971. “There was a whole other thing going on then,” she remembers.

“The 60s vibe, the music, the Vietnam War, Civil Rights – everything was exploding. It was anarchistic. You just did your thing. There were a lot of artists, writers, poets, and people creating, very free and they were all deep in their work. I would be floating through and taking pictures.”

Artists at work, Fort Greene Brooklyn

Artists at work, Fort Greene Brooklyn

Feral cats, my place. Late 60's Fort Greene Brooklyn

Feral cats, my place. Late 60’s Fort Greene Brooklyn

Hansen had initially enrolled in Pratt as a sculpture major, but immediately fell in love with photography. “I knew this was my form and this is what I wanted to do forever. Photography became a diary and a visual way of describing my world. I wasn’t looking in – I was just in it,” she recalls.

Living in a $35-a-month apartment on Clermont Avenue, Hansen began to find her way. “We were all scraping by. The door had a padlock. There was no gas in the stove and we didn’t always have heat. We had a darkroom in the attic that didn’t have running water. We didn’t have phones – no one could afford them.”

Cutty Sark

Cutty Sark

Dumbo, late 60's

Dumbo, late 60’s

“We were making do and wandering around. There were a lot of artists in the building: a filmmaker, an architecture student who was taking the walls apart. Everyone was sharing what they were doing.”

The photographs Hansen took capture the spirit of the times, when students felt completely free to experiment and liberate themselves from all constructs. At the same time, things were rough: people turned up murdered, went underground, overdosed, or went to jail. “It was rough around the edges and some people didn’t make it out,” Hansen reveals. “I feel like I was very lucky and blessed to have that experience and time in my life when it was just so free.”

Crochet girl's bedroom, late 60's

Crochet girl’s bedroom, late 60’s

Police activity, brooklyn late 60's

Police activity, brooklyn late 60’s

Female gaze, late 60's

Female gaze, late 60’s

Missing teeth trouble. My place, Fort Greene Brooklyn, late 60's

Missing teeth trouble. My place, Fort Greene Brooklyn, late 60’s

Landlord, Clermont Ave, Brooklyn 60's

Landlord, Clermont Ave, Brooklyn 60’s

Artists life, Fort Greene brooklyn

Artists life, Fort Greene brooklyn

Kids watching building burn, late 60's

Kids watching building burn, late 60’s

Follow Miss Rosen on Twitter.

Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Latest on Huck

Nxdia: “Poems became an escape for me”
Music

Nxdia: “Poems became an escape for me”

What Made Me — In this series, we ask artists and rebels about the forces and experiences that shaped who they are. Today, it’s Egyptian-British alt-pop shapeshifter Nxdia.

Written by: Nxdia

Kathy Shorr’s splashy portraits inside limousines
Culture

Kathy Shorr’s splashy portraits inside limousines

The Ride of a Lifetime — Wanting to marry a love of cars and photography, Kathy Shorr worked as a limousine driver in the ’80s to use as a studio on wheels. Her new photobook explores her archive.

Written by: Miss Rosen

Lewd tales of live sex shows in ’80s Times Square
Culture

Lewd tales of live sex shows in ’80s Times Square

Peep Man — Before its LED-beaming modern refresh, the Manhattan plaza was a hotbed for seedy transgression. A new memoir revisits its red light district heyday.

Written by: Miss Rosen

In a world of noise, IC3PEAK are finding radicality in the quiet
Music

In a world of noise, IC3PEAK are finding radicality in the quiet

Coming Home — Having once been held up as a symbol of Russian youth activism and rebellion, the experimental duo are now living in exile. Their latest album explores their new reality.

Written by: Isaac Muk

Are we steamrolling towards the apocalypse?
Culture

Are we steamrolling towards the apocalypse?

One second closer to midnight — While the rolling news cycle, intensifying climate crisis and rapidly advancing technology can make it feel as if the end days are upon us, newsletter columnist Emma Garland remembers that things have always been terrible, and that is a natural part of human life.

Written by: Emma Garland

Analogue Appreciation: Maria Teriaeva’s five pieces that remind her of home
Culture

Analogue Appreciation: Maria Teriaeva’s five pieces that remind her of home

From Sayan to Savoie — In an ever more digital, online world, we ask our favourite artists about their most cherished pieces of physical culture. First up, the Siberian-born, Paris-based composer and synthesist.

Written by: Maria Teriaeva

Sign up to our newsletter

Issue 81: The more than a game issue

Buy it now