Photographer Valery Rizzo chronicles 15 years of Brooklyn’s transformation in new photobook Wonderland

Photographer Valery Rizzo has released a new photobook, Wonderland: Brooklyn 2007–2023, documenting over 15 years of transformation in one of New York City’s most dynamic boroughs. Published by German art book publisher Kehrer Verlag, the collection showcases Brooklyn’s evolving streets and communities as seen through the distinctive lens of a toy camera.

The book spans a period from 2007 to 2023 – a time during which Brooklyn underwent significant demographic, cultural and architectural changes. Rizzo’s work captures this transition through candid street scenes and portraits, offering a visual narrative of the borough’s shifting identity. The images, taken with a toy camera, are marked by a lo-fi aesthetic that evokes a sense of nostalgia while highlighting the grit and vibrancy of urban life.

The Brooklyn-based photographer, is known for her intimate portrayals of urban life, often focusing on community, place and identity. In Wonderland, she focuses on her own surroundings, capturing the everyday moments and people that define the borough. The use of a toy camera – typically a plastic-bodied camera with limited controls – lends the images a dreamlike quality, underscoring the passage of time and the ephemeral nature of street life.

Wonderland includes texts by photographer Claudio Edinger and Kings County Distillery co-founder Colin Spoelman, providing additional context and commentary on Rizzo’s body of work and the neighbourhoods she portrays. The book is published in English and presented as a cloth hardcover with a tipped-in image on the cover. 

Wonderland: Brooklyn 2007–2023 is available now and adds to the growing body of documentary photography exploring the social and visual fabric of urban America.

Food Desk

Wonderland: Brooklyn 2007-2023 is published by Kehrer Verlag at the hardback price of €48. For further information or to purchase, visit here.