The Rose Garden Through the Pinhole

Posted in Around the Garden, Members, Photography on May 31 2011, by Ann Rafalko

I met Joel Kroin while out on a walk last week. He was kneeling in the entrance to the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden with an old camp coffeepot. I hesitated for a moment, and almost walked past him, but my curiosity got the better of me. “Is that a pinhole camera?” I asked. Indeed it was. It turns out that Joel is not just a horticulturist and NYBG Member, he’s also an artist who has been making beautiful engravings at the Garden for years. Recently has begun experimenting with pinhole cameras. I ran into Joel again today, down by the waterfall on the Bronx River, and he promised me that he would have more beautiful shots to share soon. In the meantime, here is the pinhole photograph Joel was making when I met him, and an engraving of the same waterfall he was photographing today.