I was born in South Brooklyn in 1947. As a teenager I did not experience the Italian – Irish conflict that my parents, children of Italian immigrants, did. The fighting between Irish-American and Italian-American teen gangs had basically stopped. (Sadly, newer common enemies were found.) Locals continued to tag walls and store gates with graffiti featuring ethnic slurs.
I have photographed many Irish-Americans, but specifically only two St. Patrick Day parades. The first, in 1978, was small and took place in Park Slope. I concentrated on the staging area on the 14th Street side of the Sanders theater.
The second parade, in 1997, was larger and took place in Rockaway. It seemed almost a dress rehearsal for the official St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Manhattan two weeks later. I walked the entire route from Newport Avenue and Beach 129th Street to Rockaway Beach Boulevard and Beach 98th Street where the parade ended.
I headed back home, stopping in every bar along the way to photograph and have a beer with the marchers. I made it about halfway home before I had to call my wife to come get me.
The parade returned to Rockaway this year, after two years of Covid-19 related cancellations.
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Larry Racioppo returned to South Brooklyn in 1970 after two years in California as a VISTA volunteer and had no plans and a $30 camera he barely knew how to use. He took a course at the School of Visual Arts, a job with the telephone company and began to photograph his family and friends.
Things worked out better than he could have expected.
Website: larryracioppo.com
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