The Newtown Creek "Magic Lantern" Show
Taught by Mitch Waxman
Mitch Waxman was raised in Brooklyn, attended the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, and worked for many years as a comic book writer and artist. He also worked in advertising production and as a photo retouching specialist for several advertising agencies. He has always had a certain fascination with historical material.
After a health scare several years ago, medical personnel advised him that he should start running to improve his health. Having grown up, as aforementioned, in Brooklyn – Mitch cannot run unless something is chasing him so he began to walk the earth and brought the camera along to keep things interesting. Soon, he found the occluded reality of the Newtown Creek and hasn’t left the place since.
Mitch started the Newtown Pentacle website in 2009 to document his adventures along the Newtown Creek(and in the greater harbor and city beyond). He has served the City of New York as a Parade Marshall three times, has been named the Newtown Creek Alliance’s group historian, is a Steering Committee member of the Working Harbor Committee, and offers regular walking, bus and boat tours of the Newtown Creek Watershed. He resides in Astoria, Queens, with his wife Catherine and their little dog.
His photography and unique point of view have attracted no small amount of attention, and Mitch has appeared in several documentaries about the Creek and is often quoted in news articles about the subject. A book collecting his photos and discoveries- Newtown Creek for the Vulgarly Curious, is available for order at lulu.com, and a second book will be published soon.
Photo credit: Steve McCann
"Up the Creek" is a photo slideshow and lecture presented by Newtown Creek Alliance historian Mitch Waxman exploring the history of the infamous Newtown Creek.
A photographer and blogger, Mitch has been wandering around the currently undefended border of Brooklyn and Queens for several years. Documenting the rich history and environmental issues which plague the largely unknown 3.8 mile long waterway, found at the center of New York City and recently named to the Federal Superfund list, Mitch has visited its hidden corners and works to reveal its obscure story.
The presentation will photographically carry viewers from the Newtown Creek's junction with the East River all the way back to the heart of darkness found at its end in East Williamsburg.
