Atlantic City

For the very first assignment I had for NJ Newswire I was sent to Atlantic City to gather images. I had a lot of fun this day. I got to the boardwalk bright and early and walked from one end to the next shooting both digital and film. Being a film photography novice I ruined the roll of film, which was really upsetting since I had some good shots in there. Thankfully digital is more forgiving of mistakes so I was still able to get the images I needed.

Atlantic City was a very interesting place. Growing up I always heard how bad it was there. Comments from friend’s parents and adults in my life about how dangerous or seedy of a place it was. Growing up this was never my experience. My Family never went to Atlantic City for the beach or casinos. We went for shows and boardwalk activities. My memories of the Atlantic City Boardwalk are fun and care free, playing arcade games and riding the go-karts between funnel cake and salt water taffy snacks. Now I see what people have been saying. There is so much on the Boardwalk alone that is abandoned. The empty lots and construction sites gave a feeling of the area being run down. There is a moment, unfortunately it wasn’t photographed on digital, that fully encapsulates the energy of Atlantic City Boardwalk. There was a section of the boards that was fully ripped up and fenced off, and on a bench was an old black woman in a bright orange sundress with a matching orange sun hat. She was tapping her feet and tapping her hands on her legs keeping the rhythm for the songs she sang. As people passed by she would smile as she sang gospel songs occasionally stopping to wish someone a good or blessed day. This dichotomy was Atlantic City to me. This place is run down and constantly under construction but it is still home to many people and those people are hopeful.