The Gowanus Canal is a 1.8-mile-long waterway connecting Upper New York
Bay (the bay in between Brooklyn, Manhattan, New Jersey, and Staten
Island) with the formerly industrial interior of Brooklyn. Originally it
was fed by the marshland and freshwater springs in Brooklyn and drained
into the Atlantic Ocean in Upper New York Bay.
Because of the way it was created, though, it has become stagnant and
polluted by decades of runoff and dumping from local neighborhoods and
businesses. In the summer, you can smell it from blocks away. It's not a
good smell, but that doesn't deter photographer Steven Hirsch, who finds
all kinds of beauty in what floats upon the surface.
Steven Hirsch grew up in Brooklyn in the late 1940s and 50s when
Brooklyn was filled with a new middle class. Brooklyn was a paradise and
he knew practically the whole borough, except for the Gowanus Canal. It
was not until 2010 when a friend took him Hirsch there for the first
time that he witnessed the famously polluted and now EPA Superfund
waterway.
When one thinks of canals they usually picture tree-lined waterways
bustling with commercial activity. Not so with the present-day Gowanus.
Built in the middle-to-late 19th century, the canal was to benefit the
ever-expanding industrial revolution that arose in Brooklyn and to drain
the surrounding marshes for land reclamation. Its creation accomplished
those goals, but once it was no longer helpful it was left to decay, and
decay it did. Today, the Gowanus Canal is lined by fuel oil depots and
bus and scrap metal yards and is recognized as one of the most polluted
bodies of water in the United States. In 2010 it was declared a
Superfund site.
The day Hirsch first visited the acrid and vile smell made him nauseous.
While standing on the bank he noticed a large eruption of oil start
pulsating on the surface. He photographed it for about 15 minutes and it
disappeared as quickly as it started. So was born a fascination with the
way two centuries-worth of chemicals and detritus mixed with the water.
Hirsch has shot the canal surface dozens of times since that
unforgettable day and the result is a series of eerily beautiful
abstract photos, telling the visual story of what pollution and
indifference hath wrought. The combination of the inky blacks and varied
specks and sheens all appear to be galaxy-like, but the viewer must not
forget that they are looking at heavily polluted water here on Earth and
nestled in one of the nations most populous and affluent cities. Today,
efforts are being made to clean up the canal and will need to continue
to for years to come, and it is important documentation like Hirsch's
work which should help spur action.
