Camilo Jose Vergara gives us a direct view of the doors of “Purple Manor,” a nightclub-bar, on 65 East 125th St, in 1977. Fitted with sets of double doors painted in colorful tones of red, purple, blue, yellow, the sign of Purple Manor displays bold lettering and a drawing of a martini glass.
In “Tracking Time”-Harlem, Camilo José Vergara has visited multiple sites, including the façade of 65 East 125th St. From 1977 to 2016, as of recently, Vergara has recorded the changes and shifts in the function and appearance of this store-front.
By 1981, we see that Purple Manor has been replaced by and split into two storefronts, a Discount Store and Looking Glass Boutique. Over several years, the storefronts took on different functions. During the recession in the 1990s both storefronts looked deteriorated in 1994, as Sherman’s Unisex Boutique and a Smoke Shop.
By 2016, the storefront that was once Purple Manor in 1977, is now The Universal Church of “Jesus Christ is the Lord.”
Camilo José Vergara arrived in the United States from Chile as a college student in 1965. He currently lives in New York, but has spent a large part of the past four decades in Chicago, Baltimore, Detroit, and Los Angeles. These are larger urban centers with “poor, largely segregated minority neighborhood,” according to the New York Times. He has also frequented “smaller, fallen-apart industrial cities like Camden, N.J., and Gary, Ind., places he calls “permanent ghettos”.”
As opposed to other photographs and photographers of New York, with Vergara’s photography we are faced with direct shots of building or storefronts, which most would say lack emotion. Over the span of these images Camilo Jose Vergara gets viewers to think. Just as any person changes internally and externally through the years, Harlem has gone through many changes good and bad. Vergara’s photography shows us how things change as life goes on. Throughout many decades, Harlem has seen a loss in historic buildings, but by 2017 has flourished economically.
I was initially attracted to Camilo José Vergara’s photography, simple because of his recording of the changes in Harlem. I chose his series of photographs on 65 East 125th St because it was a place I had passed by many times on my way to the 125th Metro North Station. I have always been deeply curious of the history of my surroundings. It was very interesting to discover that Purple Manor and its purple paint lies behind the façade of a church. In my mind, Vergara’s work is not only demonstrative of physical change, but also represents our own development as a people. Vergara has an interesting attraction to destruction, deterioration, and change. In this attraction, Vergara’s photos are “living” photographs that morph throughout the years and reflect the times.
“My New York”
Prior to attending City College, I would almost never go into “the city” on my own, with family, or with friends. I’ve only had these past few months to conceptualize what “my city” is. In addition to the different events we attended in Arts in New York City, I’ve gone to a few museums. Currently, my New York consists of the art I’ve seen and the people I’ve directly and indirectly encountered. My interaction with the city is an observant one. Always observant of those around me, I wonder what their stories are. I’ve gone to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and have looked at many paintings and drawings. I recently went to the Whitney Museum and saw an impressive instillation by Laura Owens. One of the things I have enjoy most about my visits to museums is the people. It’s interesting to observe others’ interaction with art and with each other. My New York is the multitude of people that surround me in different situations and locations. My New York consists of the experiences I’ve had in the past few months and how they translate into my own art.
