​In March 2020, I stopped going to an office to work because of the Pandemic. Finding time on my hands, I decided to start an art project. I had taken photos of the Brooklyn Waterfront areas of North Williamsburg, DUMBO, Red Hook and Gowanus in 2001 to 2003. From 2003 to 2020, these areas had majorly changed, mainly by moving upscale and losing industry. I decided to document these areas the way they were when I photographed them with a series of drawings. By December 2021, I created 50 color pencil drawings and called the series “The Disappearing Brooklyn Waterfront”.

In January 2022, I moved back to the Borough of Queens where I was born and grew up. I had decided on Astoria and immediately fell in love with the neighborhood. I made a decision to now draw Astoria and it would be the current Astoria. I started taking long walks and photographing what interested me. I wanted to capture the immense variety and culture that exists here. I photographed from the Steinway & Sons factory on 19th Avenue to the Museum of the Moving Image on 35th Avenue. In the other direction, I photographed from Socrates Sculpture Park on the East River to the Jackson Hole-Airline Diner just past Hazen Street. Looking at the Astoria drawings I’ve made these past four years, I felt it was like a tour of the neighborhood. I decided on the title “A Walking Tour of Astoria Through Drawings” for the show at Astoria Art Center.

Alan Rand