“In ‘a place that looks free,’ reminders of the many shades of inequality that define American social life are ubiquitous. – Dr. Naa Oyo A. Kwate, The Street: A Photographic Field Guide to American Inequality
Photographs are powerful indicators of what is and what came before. Field theorists often rely on “field markers” to piece together how people navigate their environments, asking questions about boundaries and belonging: Where are the invisible lines demarcating neighborhoods? What (new) racial signs have replaced the once-bold colors of redlining? These questions can often be understood by spending time in a place and seeing it through the eyes of people who live there.
In a series of photographic projects, we use visual methods to co-construct knowledge with participants to understand the experiences of growing older while experiencing displacement and homelessness, examine media narratives of housing insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic, Black placemaking, and living through gentrification and root shock in Harlem (under review). Selected participants from the Harlem Photovoice Project (below)!
