Brownstone Brooklyn

Back in early December I took the B train to 7th Avenue in Brooklyn to photograph the band Electric Six at the live music venue Southpaw. I did a little research online and once I discovered Southpaw had a pool table I purposely set out early to check it out. Because whenever I photograph live music it invariably starts later than announced. I figured I'd have some time to play pool before the band took the stage. Once I got out of the subway I was getting my bearings when I found myself below a sign for a poolhall that vaguely rang a bell: Brownstown Billiards. Or, as I later found out, it's offically called Ocean's 8 at Brownstone Billiards.

So I went in, walked down some steps and found myself staring at a sea of about 30 pool tables. Still eager to get to Southpaw to check out its table, I ruled out renting a table to practice at Brownstone. But I did speak to the person behind the register about taking a picture. Because I only had my 50mm lens with me, I decided to take a few simple pictures that I could stitch together for a panoramic. As I was doing so, somebody else came up to me we started talking. He introduced me to their house pro, a woman by the name of Billie Billing. We chatted briefly, I told her a little bit about myself, that I'm mostly just a bar player but that I consider myself "a student of the game." Even though she was on her way out she asked if I wanted to play some. I told her I was on my way to an assignment, but that I would look her up some other time. After thanking everybody I went back up to street level, ate some tacos at a fast food Mexican place nearby and was at Southpaw in 15 minutes. Sadly, the pool area was roped off as a VIP seating area, apparently some deal sponsored by Camel cigarettes. So I played some Buck Hunter instead and patiently waited for the opening act to finish. Eventually Electric Six came on and got my shots and took off after the fifth song.

In a strange turn of events, a month and a day later I had another assignment at Southpaw, to photograph Kimya Dawson. But this time it was a Sunday matinee performance. I was told doors opened at 1PM, so that's when I arrived. Unfortunately, I quickly learned that there were two opening acts, one at 2PM and the other at 3PM. This meant Kimya wouldn't go on until around 4PM. I took another look at the pool table area, but it was jam packed with kids and parents and the table itself was covered. Perturbed at the prospect of a wasted Sunday afternoon, I quickly thought of heading over to Brownstone. And that is exactly what I did. I played for approximately 35 minutes, and my total was $3.50. There were a ton of kids there for some birthday party, and they seemed to like the air hockey tables more than the pool tables. So it was a cacophany of pucks being slapped around, kids shouting, the works. I discovered a very cool miniature bowling alley there as well. I have to say, next time I go back I'm gonna have to try my hand at bowling. Check out this video, it is pretty well done and definitely gives you an overall sense of the place.