The tentative title of my current project is “Last Stop” – as in “Last Stop on this train. Everyone, please leave the train.” I am photographing the neighborhoods around the ends of each subway line in New York. I am not the first who has done this, apparently, but I have no doubt that I can bring an original approach to the subject, one based on years of photographing New York.
While some of the pictures will show subway stations, most will show the neighborhood within walking distance of the end stations. Sometimes, that may be a few blocks around, other times, somewhat further out. But each location involves riding the subway to its last stop and then exploring on foot.
Many of the subway lines terminate far from Manhattan, while some actually end right in the heart of Downtown and Midtown Manhattan. The E train, for instance, ends at the World Trade Center and is accessible from the Oculus, the wing-like train hall designed by Santiago Calatrava. The A train goes to the island of Broad Channel in Jamaica Bay where one can take a spur to Rockaway Beach. The city feels remote – just visible against the sky – but we are very much within the boundaries of this vast city of 9 million souls.
There are multiple reasons for engaging in this project, but the strongest for me is a desire to portray New York City as a highly diverse, multi-centered metropolis, one that has expanded and grown far beyond Manhattan and the well-known neighborhoods of Brooklyn. Manhattan, while still a dynamic place, has become relatively more homogenous and more expensive, with little manufacturing and few of the distinct market districts like the historic Fulton Fish Market and Meatpacking District that once defined the fabric of city. Those areas are now entertainment and shopping destinations. Like most of the major cities of the world, New York City has become a tourist mecca and a staging platform for international brands.
Many New York old-timers cling to the past and insist that “back then” was the authentic city, suggesting that the present is a kind of faux New York, a shadow of its grittier, more vital, self. I understand where that perspective comes from, but it is belied by a population that has grown tremendously since the 70s and 80s, and by the spatial atomization of the city into new economic centers and ethnic enclaves. I am in search of that new city as I ride the subway system to its far-flung reaches.
Wow- this one has already got off to one promising start! And although I may well be one of those lamenting ‘my’ former NY, I also can’t wait to see more of these- not to mention… the book!
Thanks, Stan. I am not opposed to lamenting the former NY. We have lost much. But time moves on, and new arrivals now define the city. I am bringing my old eyes – newly rejuvenated by multi focal cataract implants – while attempting to see through my 24 year old son’s eyes and perspective. I was 26 when I did my Lower East Side project.
Time marches on and that’s what photography is most suited to deal with- looks like your bionics are letting you see just fine!
Wonderful colors