ERICA MCDONALD PHOTOGRAPHY

New York City: the dark light of this nothing

Though the Park Slope area of Brooklyn, New York is no stranger to change, the long term residents who have sustained the neighborhood for generations are now in an increasing minority. The "old guard" is losing their sense of community. A new, affluent population, drawn by Park Slope's popularity as one of America's ten best neighborhoods, is swiftly overshadowing the working class.

This piece is meant as a tribute to the neighborhood's long term residents.

The title of this body (the dark light of this nothing) comes from the words of the philosopher Derrida that reflect on the experience of the loss of the Other, or the absence of "what I myself am not".

"Upon the death of the other we are given to memory, and thus to interiorization, since the other, outside us, is now nothing. And with the dark light of this nothing, we learn that the other resists the closure of our interiorizing memory."

This project is also a multimedia piece, with words from the residents.

  
  
     
  
In the last seven years, the number of children under five in Park Slope has increased by 35 percent, and it seems that the great majority of these are children of the newer population. The collision of the forces of race and class continue to generate advantages for the children of the white middle class in the neighborhood. Notes on online message boards from the new Park Slope parents that extol Park Slope as the perfect place to raise a family, citing playgroups, child-friendly restaurants, dance classes and the ease with which you can whisk your toddler into the city for an afternoon at the Metropolitan, continue to draw more like-minded parents to the area. Park Slope is repeatedly named one of America’s 10 best neighborhoods. Though the specific reasons for agreeing with this assesment may vary, it seems that most populations here would agree, once secure that they would be able to remain in their homes and share their lives with the people and values that mean most to them.
   
  
     
  
   
By the 1930s Park Slope was divided by class and ethnicity. The wealthy were along Prospect Park, the Irish working class dominated the upper Slope, the Italians the middle Slope, and the Latino and black families were at the bottom of the Slope. Today, many of the older families, like that of Badin Negron, reside in the lower Slope, regardless of ethnicity.About the portraits: During the summer, relying on natural light, I set up a makeshift outdoor studio with a small backdrop and I returned to the same corner each session.
  
     
  
   
  
Portrait of Hugo Picciani.ugo owns a building in Park Slope where he operates his custom machinery shop, making parts for old radios. Forty years ago he paid $20,000 for the building, and now, he'd sell for $1.5 million if he could stay on as a tenant. In an interview with the New York Times last year, Hugo said “Let’s be honest, I’m 80, I’m too old to hang on, “so the thing to do is to divest myself. I want to divest myself of everything.”
     
  
   
  
Portrait of David, 16 years old. The 2007 American Community Survey census showed that nearly a fifth of black and Hispanic families, who earn half as much as their white counterparts, have left the area during the past seven-year period.
     
  
   
  
     
  
During the making of the street portraits, I discovered that it was common for former Park Slope residents to spend their days visiting their old neighborhood. Frank, age 84, had lived here in his youth and returned to the neighborhood because he was fortunate enough to be able to move in with a friend. Frank said that he wanted to spend his later years in a familiar place.
  
  
     
  
Clint is a regular in the neighborhood, though he doesn't live here. He comes to Park Slope daily to collect bottles and cans that can be redeemed for money. In addition to the redeemables, many residents routinely put out anything that can be reclaimed as scrap metal, as on any given day there is a steady stream of collectors making their rounds, some from other areas, like Clint, and some from Park Slope.
   
  
     
  
   
Talking about her time in her present home in Park Slope, Celia tells me "I'm here 51 years.." Her cousin yells "Where the hell were you before that?" Celia answers "3rd street..3rd street. (also in Park Slope) When I got married I came here." The cousin adds "She had her reception in the basement..." Celia continues "This was all family house, Hank's sister lived there, my mother lived there, Hank's brother lived up there, my mother in law lived here, it was always family house."
   
     
  
   
  
     
  
   
Portrait of Mary Morales.Mary works at the basement bingo parlor on 5th avenue where her mother and her mother's friends played bingo. The underground hall is easy to miss unless you are looking for it, but 15 minutes before the games start at night a crowd of women step off the bus and disappear downstairs, and then the door is locked behind them until the games have finished.
  
     
  
   
Charles is the "balloon man", and makes whatever shapes from balloons the children request in exchange for a smile and a few coins.
  
     
  
   
  
Over a ten year period (1990-2000) the neighborhood saw a 14 percent decline in its Black population, and was the only neighborhood in New York City that experienced a decline in the number of Hispanic residents. A uniformity has emerged among the newer population, one which is visible in the Park Slope Parent, and also in the younger set, described by Pete Hamill in Brooklyn Revisited: "I am watching the new people walk on my old Seventh Avenue, a steady stream coming home from the subway. All are in their twenties, most of them gym-thin. Shoulder bags hang from their shoulders while other bags form humps on their backs. Their thumbs flick across tiny keyboards. They talk into cell phones. They never make eye contact with anyone."