Good Neighbors
On a four-block stretch, there is a neighborhood that by Manhattan standards, has the feel of a village. It is preserved as such because it has benefitted from the attentiveness of its inhabitants, like the creation of the Local Development Corporation; and city initiatives, like a Business Improvement District office, rent control, rent stability and Housing Development Fund Corporation Co-ops that made being here safe and affordable. It is because of these efforts that this area remains a thriving, organically diverse place, both culturally and socio-economically.
"Good Neighbors" is a work in progress I began in 2010. It became a way to preserve the memory of a place in anticipation of inevitable change by engaging my extended neighborhood family and it has stretched out to include longtime residents and business owners. These are the people and places that make up the place where I have raised my son; the place where we eat, sleep, shop, and share all the most basic rituals of living; the place that is completely familiar in its light, smells and sights.
This project is an homage to a singular neighborhood that stands as a representation for all of the places that we call “home”.
"Good Neighbors" relates my inner-city life to the vision of an idyllic village and confronts the simultaneous and opposing urban assumptions of anonymity and intimacy, public and private, physical space and physical closeness. Ultimately, it is a lens focused on the vitality of my home: its human presence.
All images photographed using 2 1/4 single-reflex camera.
J. Maya Luz, NYC 2018
"Good Neighbors" is a work in progress I began in 2010. It became a way to preserve the memory of a place in anticipation of inevitable change by engaging my extended neighborhood family and it has stretched out to include longtime residents and business owners. These are the people and places that make up the place where I have raised my son; the place where we eat, sleep, shop, and share all the most basic rituals of living; the place that is completely familiar in its light, smells and sights.
This project is an homage to a singular neighborhood that stands as a representation for all of the places that we call “home”.
"Good Neighbors" relates my inner-city life to the vision of an idyllic village and confronts the simultaneous and opposing urban assumptions of anonymity and intimacy, public and private, physical space and physical closeness. Ultimately, it is a lens focused on the vitality of my home: its human presence.
All images photographed using 2 1/4 single-reflex camera.
J. Maya Luz, NYC 2018