"SELFIE PORTRAIT" 
LOCATION: DUMBO, Brooklyn

This was the day my good friend Tim Andres, his girlfriend Jenny and I visited the DUMBO Arts Festival, an annual [FREE] event that occurs in NYC centered on innovative art installations and galleries. “DUMBO” refers to a certain section of Brooklyn paved with cobbled streets and a waterfront that provides grand views of an NYC panorama and a carousel. It is also a neighborhood commonly used as the setting for many outdoor events. “DUMBO” is commonly used as an acronym, one that stands for “Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass”. At one point, the “Overpass” part wasn’t part of the acronym, but was added because it wouldn’t be such a good look to have a part of Brooklyn, be known as “DUMB”. This day, after transforming ourselves into monsters via the technology of IPAD APPS and a wierd cardboard fixture applied to our foreheads, we stumbled across an empty picture frame. I thought it was part of an installation until we realized nobody was claiming it at all. We decided to take it with us and take pictures with the frame outline. We even engaged others in taking pictures with us although it’s quite hard to take a selfie when you’re balancing a picture frame and your phone at the same time. I’m usually found behind the lens, but as Taiko drums banged on into the night, and as food trucks served their specific delicacies to hip New Yorkers, I decided, “Hey, why not?” And proceeded to take the photo seen above. Amidst going into art galleries that were located within abandoned buildings with entrances that led us to believe one of us was on the verge of either getting kidnapped or robbed, bumrushing stands that were giving out free soup samples (one dude INSISTED that you try the broccoli and cheese), and walking in and out of photo shows that were set in moving containers and storage compartments, it was simply just another night in N.Y. with the homies.

-PASSPORT|kenny