Seeing the Navy Yard

In his photo book The Brooklyn Navy Yard (powerHouse, 2010), John Bartelstone takes us on a voyage into a world that—despite its proximity to downtown Brooklyn—seems a strange and distant land, where great industrial beasts once roamed. Shot over the last 15 years, Bartelstone’s collection captures a place transitioning from its World War II heyday to its current revival as a center of light manufacturing and high-end design, making it one of the last industrial areas in New York City. Like Charles Sheeler’s classic photos of the Ford River Rouge plant in Detroit, Bartelstone’s shots of the Navy Yard comprise an essential work of industrial archaeology.