I have met so many interesting people because of this little photo project of mine. Each of them with their own interesting stories. As you can see this time my project took me to the Brooklyn Flea.
Earlier last week I contacted the people that runs the flea to get permission to take photos. They wrote back and said yes. Super nice people. I was told that the vendors arrive, to the flea, as early as 6am. So last Saturday I woke up around 5;15am and left my apartment around 5:40am. I don't remember the last time I was out on the streets that early. The sky was still dark, it could've been 8pm at night. Ah the crisp early Autumn air. Glad I had my hoodie on.
After getting off the train I walked to the flea, it was 5:47am and the sky was still dark. Once I got to where the flea was going to be, I noticed couple vendors have already arrived. Now that I think about it, why did I go to the flea so early if the gate wouldn't be open till 7am. I'm glad I did though because I was able to chat with few of the vendors. One gentleman drove about 45mins to Fort Greene with his filled up van. His helper had gotten sick the night before so it was just him that day. We talked about Nikon vs Canon to real estate to him being in this business for over 25 years.
I also chatted with a lady that drove 2 hours that morning to get to flea by 7am. Her mom had been in this business in London for over 30 years and now it's her turn in Brooklyn.
After 4 hours of being there, walking around and snapping photos I was pooped! I couldn't imagine how these people do this every weekend from 7am to 6pm. The gentleman that I had 1st talked to told me he usually doesn't get home till after 7pm. Being a vendor at a flea market is tough work! It was also nice to see a lot of the vendors helping each other out and joking with one another. Such a great community of people!
I really wish I had more time to chat with each vendor to learn about their stories.
