Honestly, I wasn’t sure what theme I was going for when I was taking photographs of my neighborhood. I never explored it in the first place. But when I did for the project, I noticed a clear separation of the type of environment the people lived in before and after going through the bridge on Park Avenue and 124th Street. I knew that the Upper West Side is going through gentrification but I didn’t know that it has extended to some parts of the Upper East Side already. The contrast between the eerie silence and cleanness of the environment past the Park Avenue Bridge and the tense loudness and dirtiness before the Park Avenue Bridge (the side where I live) became my theme. I was much entertained when I walked around the neighborhood past the Park Avenue Bridge because it gave off such a different aura than the Harlem I lived in. I guessed it gave me some hopes that perhaps the rest of Upper East Side in Harlem would also become a better place to live in.
Why did I choose Harlem? It wasn’t just because I lived here, but because I’m new here. It has been about eleven months since I moved from Chinatown, Lower East Side, to live in Harlem, Upper East Side. To be honest, I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of living in this neighborhood before moving here because of all the rumors and chatters about how dangerous Harlem was. However, it was a better option living in Harlem in a government supported building than in Chinatown, paying expensive monthly rent. I was quite concerned about safety when my family moved here. For many months, I didn’t want to get involve with anyone so I avoided eye contact and walked fast whenever I leave or come home. Hence, I have only traveled one path and never explored my neighborhood. But now I must not avoid and face reality. If I’m going to live here, I might as well know what sort of place I’m really living in. And that became the basis of my street photography project.
I began shooting photos from my apartment on First Avenue and 122nd Street, retracing the path that I usually take to the 4, 5, and 6 train station on Lexington and 125th Street. But this time I would walk on 124th Street instead of 125th Street. One of the first photographs that I took was of a group of people hanging around a store and an old looking apartment building. It seemed like a gathering to me. That was not the first time I saw a group of people hanging out there but it always left an eerie feeling, making me wonder what they were doing there. In contrast to what many people thinks, Harlem is actually a quieter place than you think – nothing like Chinatown. There are people walking, waiting for buses, but rare to see a loud conversation go on for long (I haven’t seen it). So my challenge for this project was to avoid being too suspicious for holding a camera and taking pictures of people. Hence, I felt like I had to be cautious when taking photographs in my neighborhood so I stood on the opposite street to take it. I didn’t dare go up to them to snap a shot. It was then that I saw garbage lined up in front of the building the group of people was standing (but on a different corner – they were standing on 2nd Avenue while the trash was on 124th Street). It really made me realized how dirty the place really was. Looking about, I saw a bunch of wrappers, papers, and bags all over the streets. It was a fact that I knew but didn’t confront. And that struck me: the trash, dirtiness, and poorly maintained buildings were distinct marks of what it was like to live in Harlem.
That all changed when I walked past Park Avenue Bridge. The environment seemed to have suddenly shifted. Trash papers were seen less and fewer people were in groups. The buildings looked newer; not to mention the many trees planted on the streets. There was also a very spacious and beautiful park one avenue past Park Avenue on Madison Avenue. When comparing the two sides, it almost felt like there were two different worlds separated by that one bridge on Park Avenue. It was also here, right after I crossed the bridge to take photos that I ran into trouble. A person seemingly on guard or lookout pointed at me and said “Did you just take a picture of me?” when I was trying to take a picture of the street with people and the buildings, a shot in which he was in it. I was on guard before from the glares I got while just holding a camera and walking around 124th Street and Lexington Avenue. Despite that, I flustered and stupidly said “Yes.” He was the first one to confront me. He told me to delete the picture of him and I almost did until he turned around and walked back to his position. I thought I shouldn’t be obligated to delete it since I had no intention of taking a photo of him; he just happened to be in it. In any case, that was a little something that happened to me as I was taking photographs for this project.
Although I took many photographs, I hope the thirteen that I picked show the sharp contrast between the two sides of the Park Avenue Bridge. I will end the project with a photo of a building on 124th Street and 2nd Avenue that is newly build and probably not rented out yet to show that change is coming to Upper East Side of Harlem as well. Hence, this way I would be able to capture the aspects that define my neighborhood and the other side of it.
