David Mandl 
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Over a recent twelve-month period, I attempted to locate and photograph every dead-end street in Brooklyn, N.Y., on foot, using only the vague indications on a street atlas as a guide. This was a painstaking and time-consuming process that — though I've lived in Brooklyn my whole life — took me through many parts of the borough that were completely unfamiliar to me. Some of these areas are long distances from public transportation, necessitating long and often fruitless walks.

The photos in this series (more than sixty in total) map out the edges, or no-go zones, of Brooklyn; they comprise a kind of patchwork-perimeter of the borough, the limits of the officially recognized landscape. These normally "invisible" areas display certain ragged similarities (including the vaguely ominous yellow END sign at every terminus), but at the same time striking differences: Some are alongside old canals, some by defunct train lines, some by cemeteries, and some at the end of private streets. Viewing these photos together can be a frustrating, almost Kafkaesque experience; at the same time, they reflect the incredible complexity to be found in one city. The sometimes apocalyptic character of these sites is counterbalanced by their wild, unkempt beauty.

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bio:
Dave Mandl is a photographer, writer, editor, and radio producer. He lives in Brooklyn.

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