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After moving to the <\/span>West Village<\/span><\/a> in 1993<\/span>, Howell found himself irresistibly drawn to life on the piers and began chronicling scenes of everyday life through the lens of an insider looking out. \u200b\u201c<\/span>That area was always a\u00a0walk on the wild side,\u201d he\u00a0says. \u200b\u201c<\/span>You crossed the West Side Highway on to the piers, and you were going to have a\u00a0story. The city put up signs saying you would be fined if you went on the piers, but that didn\u2019t stop anyone, certainly not\u00a0me.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Where other artists were drawn to the illicit\u00a0thrill of cruising, Howell embraced the prosaic pleasures of life at tar beach, be it sunbathing, moon gazing, skinny dipping, or just hanging out with friends. Here, in his photographs, you feel a\u00a0sense of escape from it all, with nary a\u00a0payphone or pager making its presence known. Instead there are jock straps, g\u2011strings, construction boots, fanny packs, NYPD<\/span> caps, rollerblades, stilettos, and enough sizzling flesh to rival the nearby Meatpacking District when blood still ran through its cobblestone streets.<\/span><\/p>\n At the piers, Howell became friends with a\u00a0trans woman named Alberta who knew everyone on the scene, and gave him instant credibility. He\u00a0remembers, \u200b\u201c<\/span>When I\u00a0started taking photos and somebody would say, \u200b\u2018<\/span>Don\u2019t take my photo,\u2019 Alberta would say, \u200b\u2018<\/span>Oh, don\u2019t mind him. He\u2019s just taking photos. It\u2019s nothing. It\u2019s his <\/span>kink<\/span><\/a>,\u2019 and they just let it alone.\u201d Free to photograph as he wished, Howell naturally gravitated to creating a\u00a0family photo album\u00a0of the community on its own\u00a0terms.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n