Note
Notes: Text from Hoboken Historical Museum Newsletter, July-August 2007
Searching for the Heart of Hoboken:
A Photo Essay by John Conn
The Museum is pleased to welcome back to the Upper
Gallery photographer John Conn, one of the contributors to
the recent exhibit of black-and-white photos in “From Another
Time: Hoboken in the 1970s.” In the new exhibit, Searching
for the Heart of Hoboken: A Photo Essay by John Conn, he
revisits one of his favorite neighborhoods, but this time he
loaded his camera with 35-mm color slide film. As before,
Conn says he’s on the same mission—to find the quintessential
heart of Hoboken and pin it down on film.
When he first discovered Hoboken 30 years ago, the
Bronx-born and -raised photographer/journalist says he felt
completely at home. The Bronx can be rough, but it’s a tightly
knit community. On his first visit, people had warned him not
to venture beyond Hoboken’s railroad station, but it takes a lot
to faze this born adventurer, whose career has taken him to
South Africa to document the struggle to overthrow Apartheid,
to the Galapagos to shoot pictures of exotic animals (some of
which were used to promote the Imax film about the
Hoboken Tunes… (continued from cover)
Galapagos), and to the depths of the ocean for underwater photo
safaris. The next trip he’s planning will take him to Antarctica.
What draws Conn back to Hoboken is the strong sense of
neighborhood that reminds him of his home turf. It’s changed
in 30 years, particularly as more of the population works outside
of Hoboken than in its industrial heyday. In those days,
he says, people used to hang out on their stoops, talking with
neighbors; everyone seemed to know everyone else and their
civic pride was evident. It was fairly easy to stop someone to
pose for a photograph or for pointers on where to find something
interesting to shoot.
Thirty years later, many people are too busy to stop and
talk, which he thinks is a shame, since he finds Hoboken offers
so many great places to sit and enjoy a meal and a conversation.
Still, he found himself drawn back to Hoboken again and again
over the past couple of years, trying to capture glimpses of the
city’s elusive essential character. With so many different types
of people and interesting buildings packed into its square mile,
Hoboken lends itself to great photos, he claims, adding, “If you
can’t get a good picture here, you should hang up your lens.”
He developed over a dozen of his favorite photos for
display, and will have a bin of additional photos from his
Hoboken safaris for visitors to flip through. And he’s not
finished, saying, “There’s always a better photo out there.”
Spoken like an adventurer. The opening reception is Sunday,
July 29, from 2–5 p.m.
Original or Copy: Digital copy
Status: OK
Status By: dw
Status Date: 2007-09-21
