SEE: Larry Racioppo's Photographs Remember 'Brooklyn Before'

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — When Larry Racioppo took to the streets of his native Park Slope as a burgeoning photographer back in 1971, he never thought the photos he took might one day end up in a book.

Sure, the 21-year-old was taking photography seriously, he said, paying his rent by working as a photographer and driving a cab a few days a week. But, the photos — black-and-white snapshots of his family or kids playing stick ball on the street — were more for him than a specific assignment, Racioppo said.

"I got my own apartment on 15th street and I would just walk," he said. "I started with people I knew, with my family...and I would just walk and talk to people. There's a certain thing to street photography where you relate to people and things just happen — there's a certain energy."

But as it turns out, the 600 or so photos he took during those 12 years captured what would become a significant time in the borough's history. That is, a time before Brooklyn became known as the trendy go-to spot.

Racioppo and his team of publishers decided to tell the story of that "pre-gentrified Brooklyn" with 125 of those photos, published in his new, aptly named book, "Brooklyn Before."

"The original title was called 'Before the Gold Rush: South Brooklyn 1971-1983,'" Racioppo said. "I started seeing all of these books about Brooklyn as a destination and I thought, I have all these photos of Brooklyn, that might be really interesting."

He will discuss the new collection and other moments from his 47-year career as a photographer throughout the city on Dec. 19 at Brooklyn's Central Library, where an exhibit with his photos has been on display since September.

The exhibit will feature certain themes that Racioppo said he has kept going back to over the years, both working as a photographer for the New York City Department of Housing and in his own projects. Each theme, whether it be family, religious expression or manual labor, became about capturing things that he noticed with the "heightened awareness" he feels behind the lens, Racioppo said.

"I think it’s visual," he said "As I drove through Harlem, or East New York, or Bed-Stuy, I saw these incredibly big walls that were so colorful. People spray something on a wall...it fades over time, so i find that very significant. It’s how we preserve life."

Brooklynites will likely recognize landmarks throughout the years, he said, including studies he's done of Brooklyn churches, theaters, Coney Island and Prospect Park.

Slopers in particular will be able to revisit the neighborhood's history with "Brooklyn Before" photos such as the Loew's Kings Theatre before it was renovated or a hidden projector in a theater-turned-supermarket on 9th Street.

People might even recognize themselves, too, Racioppo said. A few longtime residents have already reached out to him to say they either recognize themselves or a family member in the photos.

One woman asked for her own copy of a photo Racioppo took of her family. She is the only one from the photo still alive, he said.

"This book has gotten a lot of attention — it's the connection to Brooklyn," Racioppo said. "This is Brooklyn coming out of the woodwork."

Photos contributed and taken by Larry Racioppo.