A really fantastic photography collection of multi-faceted groups - by race, class, etc. - a particular era in Brooklyn pre-gentrification that shows so many kinds of folks simply living their lives.

A truly fascinating collection of photographs authentically capturing Brooklyn life before gentrification, spanning the 1970s into the early 80s, it's personal, raw, and informative. A time i never got to experience. A Brooklyn I have never known, An affordable, blue collar, diverse ,yet family oriented Brooklyn, that somewhat reminded me of my home. South Philly

I gave this book a 5 out of 5 star review. It was an enjoyable and I would recommend. to others. Generously provided to me through NetGalley

I really liked the photos but felt could have. had more content , background.
Will need to research more on my own. I felt this book didn’t really delve in to the history, held my attention somewhat - glancing

As a former resident of Park Slope South, I was fascinated by this historical and visual portrait of this area in the 70's, before gentrification. I loved that most of the photographs centered around the people that made up the neighborhood at the time. Unfortunately, the formatting of my ARC made it quite difficult to get through the text, but I was still able to enjoy this book and imagine it will be great in print or even then formatted ebook version.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing and ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Like most photo books, Brooklyn Before opens with essays about the contents you're about to cross. In this case, Brooklyn in the 70's before gentrification. Even myself, having never been to New York, "knows" New York wasn't exactly nice then, and is still skeptical, even now. HOWEVER.

These essays, the Preface, Before the Gold Rush, and A Solitary Walk in Brooklyn will tell you that while there were events, there was life. Vibrant, happy, real life. It reinforces that, like every other situation known to human kind, real life doesn't make good news. So don't skip these essays. A lot of people tend to think of the photographs as the number one and skip everything else, but I'm a firm believer that these words were paired with the photos for a reason.

The photos following these essays are brilliant. This is NOT a collection of a couple great photos surrounded by a filling of subpar photos. Every. Single. Photo. In this book deserves to be there. There are SO MANY photos in here that I would purchase as giant prints to hang at home. A boy in a Halloween Mask, barber photos, and the very last photo before the Acknowledgements are just incredible.

All of these photos are printed beautifully. The contrast is stark between vivid whites and inky blacks and as a heavily multi-cultural book, each skin tone is treated with an honest representation. Brooklyn Before is mostly portrait work, but the images without people in them re beautiful. Not beautifully haunting, not beautifully desolate, but beautifully lived in. They show so much life.

This is a photo book I'm going to own. As you probably know, photo books come with a hefty price tag most of the time, even second hand, so I take buying one seriously. But this one is worth every cent. In fact, Three Hills Publishing, I'd probably pay even more than the current price tag, but being that it's not outrageously priced, I can also go buy Larry's other book, Halloween. Larry is a phenomenal street photographer and this book, Brooklyn Before, showcases what I feel is the best of his work all in one spot.

Unfortunately many photographs were missing, so I'll evaluate as an essay: it provides a brief look into the history of photography, the development of street photography, and how photography as an art struggled to be taken seriously in the mid-late 20th century. There is also much nostalgia for what NYC was once and will never be again as it continues to evolve and gentrify all of our favorites parts. Racioppo's photos capture a moment of New York's history, when people were the city in a way that we'll never quite see in the same way thanks to technology. Such a great swatch of history, looking forward to seeing the complete print edition.

South Brooklyn between 1971 and 1983 is the subject of Larry Racioppo's wonderful black and white photos. For anyone who has lived in this area or visited it will give a huge insight into how it used to be. Divided into seven sections including two commentaries, from Tom Robbins and Julia Van Haaften, this book gives an extraordinary insight into everyday life for people and their surroundings at that time. A history book in pictures!
Thank you to Net Galley for an ARC.

The photographs were what drew me to this book, but I found surprisingly few of them in the actual book compared to text. I felt that the text, while somewhat interested, was too meandering and without focus; I was reading what felt like a very lengthy introduction, when I looked and realized that I was 25% of the way through the entire book. I do think the author has interesting experiences and a good story to tell, but the way that it is currently written feels a bit scattered and without focus. I think that if it were a book primarily of pictures, with captions and shorter accompanying paragraphs, I would have enjoyed the book much more.

Brooklyn Before is one mans version of Brooklyn in the 1970's and early 80's. He tells about things going on around Brooklyn during that time period but even better he shows us through his photographs taken during the time. He basically goes street by street telling us his memories of the day, with some amazing photos. There are children playing in streets, friends watching tv, pictures of mailboxes and views of the city. This book is great for anyone who lived in Brooklyn, or if you just want to know what the town used to be like when it was just a small town. Over the years Brooklyn has grown into a major City gone are the mom and pop shops, and small town living. This book really is a blast form the past.

I received this book from the Author or Publisher via Netgalley.com to read and review.

Expected more of historical account of this time period - 60s and 70s in Brooklyn. The photos were good, but wanted more history behind them.