Coney Island 40 Years
Since 1970, when I first ventured to Coney, my love affair with this Brooklyn amusement park and beach began. Coney Island 40 Years, spanning the years 1970-2010 in 214 compelling images, tells the tale of my 40-year romance with this iconic locale.
Entering Coney Island is like stepping into another culture, and I have tried to capture the lives and times of those who work and play there. There is a sense of adventure, a thrilling escape from daily worries, and much pleasure, whether riding an amusement, walking the boardwalk, viewing the Mermaid Parade, or sunbathing on the beach. Coney Island, American's first amusement park, is celebrated worldwide. It is a fantasyland of the past with an irrepressible optimism about it's future. The book is a meditation on time, history, persistence and longevity (of both Coney Island and myself), fate and public social behavior. I believe it to be a valuable record of a passing way of life, of a Coney Island that is fast changing in the wake of its recent development. Coney Island 40 Years is important as a document of a time and of a very important American place.
I chose to photograph in black and white to reveal Coney Island in its more moody and evocative moments; to capture history, the past, nostalgia, and memories. The black and white photographs help to speak about what Coney Island has been for the past 40 years.
The book is hardbound with 214 reproductions, 9 by 11 3/4 inches, 240 pages. There is a short essay by Lola Star, owner of a boardwalk boutique specializing in things Coney, and a consummate Coney Island insider. Plus an informative timeline of Coney Island from 1608 to 2010 written by John Manbeck, the former Brooklyn Borough Historian.
I supervised every detail of the design and production of the book; it was produced to exacting standards, printed in Asia on heavy 180 gsm paper, using two black inks and the advanced stochastic printing process (which randomly places the ink dots to obtain an image that is closer to continuous tone than conventional halftone processes). This gives exceptional fidelity to the original prints. The book comes with a sturdy dust jacket and custom end sheets and sells for $49.99.
Coney Island 40 Years is published by Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., based in Atglen, PA on the Schiffer Book Farm; they are known for publishing high quality Antique, Arts, Architecture, Lifestyle, and Military History books, as well as a successful line of children and ghost books.
If you would like a personally signed and inscribed book or have any questions, email me at hsteinfoto@aol.com. The book is also available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and where fine books are sold.