81 Bowery
A couple of weeks ago, I got to shoot for the cover story for Village Voice. Although it wasn’t going to be the cover, I was super excited for the extra space allotted for photos and the subject matter. My editor explained the situation to me as modern day tenement-styled housing in the heart of Chinatown. I thought I was getting to shoot some Jacob-Riis-How-the-Other-Half-Live type scenario, like this photo. This little photojournalist was pumped.
81 Bowery turned out to be more complicated. On arriving, the writer and translator debriefed me before we made our way in. They explained it as poor and mostly older Chinese immigrants who wanted to live in Chinatown no matter what. Some of the residents had built up the walls, bunked their beds and started to rent out space in the already cramped rooms, making money off of their cheap rent. The owner of the building had actually been paying more in electricity than he was collecting in rent. When the Fire Department shut down the building for blocked sprinklers, he took the opportunity (and mandate) to tear down the ceilings that made the bunking possible. Now residents are upset about the lack of privacy and their lost income. While these living conditions are not ideal, it is not quite the abused immigrant story that some are making it out to be. The housing in the Bronx is better, but far from Chinatown so the residents don’t want to live there. And even for the poor, one hundred dollars is an incredible deal in Manhattan. What is the minimum people should have in their living arrangements? Where do they have to compromise? The article does a wonderful job covering both the landlord and tenet’s arguments and demonstrates the most even-headed approach to a sensitive topic I have seen recently.
The photos turned out great with residents welcoming me into their space and fetching me a ladder to get overhead shots. I had one woman (Mrs. Liang) chase me out and try to rip open my bag to give me apples and water. Village Voice printed three photos but here is a slideshow of some of my favorite shots.
