( CNN ) Bruce Gilden was tired . He 's 68 , and he had just returned to New York from an assignment in South Africa . Next up were England , Hong Kong , Tokyo . Some assignments , some locations , are better than others . In a surprisingly warm stretch of October , the photographer shot an assignment in Brighton Beach , a neighborhood not terribly far from his apartment in Manhattan . He liked that . He could spend four days there but go home at night to see his wife and pet his cats . He knows the place well , too . He grew up in Brooklyn and Queens and spent years shooting around Coney Island . This stretch of Brooklyn has changed since then , as all things do , but it 's still special , still a beloved place to dip a toe in the Atlantic . It maintained its individuality , Gilden says . It 's not like where he lives -- the same rent-stabilized apartment in SoHo where he has stayed for decades . It changed around him into people who all seem to dress and act the same . `` Here , a guy gets a job on Wall Street , where 's the struggle ? '' Gilden said . `` I 'm not interested , visually . '' But Brighton Beach is something else . His wife loves to go there to swim , or buy tchotchkes and fancy mustard . If he had to pick a location for a fashion shoot , it 'd be there . The neighborhood was pretty Russian all those years ago . Now , he says , it 's all Russian . Jewish and Ukrainian , too , but really Russian . He ca n't read the signs . You ask the time , and folks will show you their watch rather than say the words . Last October , he brought a translator along because so few people speak English -- or at least , he says , they pretend they do n't . He wandered the streets below the elevated train with a small Leica camera , and he snapped photos when he spotted a character . It 's not too crowded , and most people were very nice . Some wanted to take his head off . After years of shooting gangsters , revelers and whoever happens to be out and about , it all unfolds so quickly that almost nobody makes a fuss , he says . Social media . Follow @ CNNPhotos on Twitter to join the conversation about photography . `` I have very good bedside manner from all the years on the streets , '' Gilden said . `` It 's like playing sports . You do n't have time to think . You act and react . `` I shoot what 's interesting . All I 'm about is visual . '' And Brighton Beach is a sight . For decades , Gilden shot in black and white . For the last two years , he says , he sees in color . Brighton Beach has it all -- wild prints on shirts and dresses , fluorescent bathing suits that do n't exactly fit , garish makeup that 's been lovingly applied the same way for 50 years . `` I shoot who I am , '' Gilden said . `` And I shoot what interests me , even when people hire me . I 'll get the job done , but I have a lot of energy in my pictures . With those people , there 's a lot of energy . They 're shopping , shopping , shopping . They go with their carts , and their red lipstick and their bright clothes . '' Brighton Beach ? Sure , it 's close to home . But , Gilden says , `` it 's an assignment that I liked . '' Bruce Gilden is a street photographer based in New York . He is represented by Magnum Photos .
Bruce Gilden spent four days photographing people at New York 's Brighton Beach . The images were taken by the photographer and his friend, who was also a professional photographer.