Far Apart - Revelation and Refuge in an Urban Green Space

Far Apart is a photographic love letter to Shore Road Park, a narrow strip of playgrounds, wooded paths, and ball fields in Brooklyn that overlooks the Verrazano Narrows, the waterway that leads into New York Harbor, and Staten Island. It’s an undistinguished park sandwiched between a dense residential neighborhood on one side and a six-lane highway on the other. Along with bird songs, you hear the roar of drag racing cars on the road and jet engines from planes heading to LaGuardia and JFK overhead. Wind-blown trash passes through the landscaping. And yet — during a difficult period in a pandemic-sickened city — this unassuming city park became a source of wonder, beauty, healing, and strange discovery.

Artist Bios

James Prochnik

James Prochnik is a Brooklyn-based photographer who explores places where different people, cultures, histories, and environments meet, mix, and energize one another. James’s practice is as a wanderer, searching for encounters and moments that celebrate the grace of, and wrestle with, the predicaments of the social and environmental landscapes he photographs. James teaches photography for StrudelmediaLive and shares his passion for photography with The NYC Photo Community — a web-based resource James founded to promote NYC-based photographers, events, exhibitions, and opportunities. James’s photography has been featured in The New York Times, Lenscratch, and Humble Arts Foundation, and exhibited in the US and Europe.

Organizations

The Alice Austen House

The Alice Austen House occupies a singular position, both geographically and culturally—on the water’s edge of Staten Island’s North Shore. Once the home, studio, and muse of pioneering photographer Alice Austen, the house dates back to 1690 and is one of New York City’s historic homes. Yet it functions today not as a static historic site, but as a dynamic contemporary arts hub.

The museum celebrates queer and women’s history while breathing new life into Austen’s legacy by engaging with current artistic, social, and personal exploration. For Austen, this home, now a public park, was a radical retreat and safe haven for her and her largely queer circle of friends. That spirit of refuge and experimentation continues today. We activate the house and grounds through our Queer Ecologies Garden, deep community partnerships, and sustained support for artists, fostering the creation of new work that honors the past while speaking directly to the present.

The museum and public park have been a National LGBTQ+ landmark since 2017.
NYC Parks

NYC Parks is the steward of more than 30,000 acres of land — 14 percent of New York City — including more than 5,000 individual properties ranging from Coney Island Beach and Central Park to community gardens and Greenstreets. We operate more than 800 athletic fields and nearly 1,000 playgrounds, 1,800 basketball courts, 550 tennis courts, 65 public pools, 51 recreational facilities, 15 nature centers, 14 golf courses, and 14 miles of beaches. We care for 1,200 monuments and 23 historic house museums. We look after 600,000 street trees, and two million more in parks. We are New York City’s principal providers of recreational and athletic facilities and programs. We are home to free concerts, world-class sports events, and cultural festivals.