“A Blast From Brooklyn’s Past”: Adams & Brooklyn Historical Society Launch Photo Challenge

Dust off those old photo albums! On Tuesday, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and the Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS) announced the launch of “A Blast from Brooklyn’s Past,” a photo challenge inviting Brooklynites to submit images that capture the borough’s “evolution in architecture, streetscapes, and vistas.”

Selected pics will be featured on the Brooklyn Borough Hall Flickr page, and some of the best entries will be included in an upcoming edition of One Brooklyn, the Borough President’s community newspaper that reaches more than 80,000 Brooklyn residents. Photographs will be selected based on their historical value, photographic quality, and unique setting.

“‘A Blast from Brooklyn’s Past’ will reignite wonderful memories for longtime Brooklynites, as well as inspire a deeper love of our borough from our newer arrivals,” Adams said in a release announcing the contest. “I encourage everyone to join in on the fun and submit their own photos to this challenge. Let’s all share in the diverse historical tapestry of Brooklyn’s past, from our waterfront’s industrial heritage of Greenpoint to the old shopfronts of our brownstone belt.”

“At Brooklyn Historical Society we take great pride in our extensive photography collections,” said BHS President Deborah Schwartz. “They paint a vibrant picture of our borough’s history for curators, researchers, scholars, students, and the general public. We’re thrilled to join Borough President Adams in this invitation to all of Brooklyn to explore their own photographic collections.”

To kick off the challenge, the Brooklyn Historical Society delved into its own archives to find images illustrating Brooklyn of yore. All are encouraged to check out the BHS images and try to identify what the historic photos depict.

To enter a photo, email photos@brooklynbp.nyc.gov or post to Tumblr. Entries must be smaller than 10 MB in file size. Learn more at brooklyn-usa.org.