Camilo José Vergara - 40 YEARS SHOOTING THE SAME BUILDINGS OVER AND OVER

[Richard S. (rich815)]

I am fascinated by this type of photography. I think he did a good job. Really interesting to watch the photographs go by over the 40 years. The site is not the easiest to navigate but definitely check it out. Especially the 65 East 125th set. Amazing how it changed....

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Article about him:

http://www.diyphotography.net/photo...shooting-buildings-document-american-ghettos/

 

[Renato Tonelli]

Same here - it takes patience and dedication to sustain this kind of work.

Thank you for bringing his work to my attention.

 

[blansky]

I am fascinated by this type of photography. I think he did a good job. Really interesting to watch the photographs go by over the 40 years. The site is not the easiest to navigate but definitely check it out. Especially the 65 East 125th set. Amazing how it changed....

Dead Link Removed

Article about him:

http://www.diyphotography.net/photo...shooting-buildings-document-american-ghettos/

Interesting work. The old elegant abandoned houses always fascinate me. They were once the home of rich families and are now standing alone in a wasteland of despair and ruin.

 

[ParkerSmithPhoto]

That's what photography does best, communicate the basic facts of the world to people who weren't there to witness, or were but have forgotten. See Berenice Abbott's "Changing New York." Very Buddhist.

 

[Colin Corneau]

I am REALLY loving his work on "Old New York" -- fantastic photographs in their own right, but to be done on Kodachrome back in those days?! Incredible.

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Reminds me very much of Fred Herzog's work documenting Vancouver from the 1950's on, also in Kodachrome -- priceless collection of images from a bygone age.

 

[Richard S. (rich815)]

I am REALLY loving his work on "Old New York" -- fantastic photographs in their own right, but to be done on Kodachrome back in those days?! Incredible.

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Reminds me very much of Fred Herzog's work documenting Vancouver from the 1950's on, also in Kodachrome -- priceless collection of images from a bygone age.

Kodachrome had such a lovely color palette.

 

[chriscrawfordphoto]

Vergara's book, "The New American Ghetto," is a fascinating study of life in impoverished inner-city neighborhoods. Not just the photos, which are beautifully done, but his written descriptions of ghetto architecture, the ghetto economy, crime, history, and the lives of ordinary people stuck in bad neighborhoods because of poverty.

 

[ParkerSmithPhoto]

I wish he had kept a consistent vantage point and used the same lens for each set of photos. Some of them appear shot with a wide angle, while others in the same set look telephoto (compare the relative sizes of the backgrounds). Those scans are pretty grubby, too. It really detracts from the presentation.

As with Andrew Moore's photos of Detroit and Cuba, what you are actually viewing in most of these photos is the effect of Socialist politics and economics on communities and the physical environment. Those once-beautiful buildings now covered with graffiti and crumbling into dust are brought to you by rent control and the welfare state.

What's fascinating is that most of the photographers who create this style of work are completely oblivious to this reality; in fact, most of them ignorantly ascribe these ruins to "Capitalist exploitation" or "racism" or some other boilerplate leftist claptrap, when ever the most rudimentary understanding of free-market economics would prove this to be false.

 

[Colin Corneau]

Not to devolve into a political discussion, Parker, but an influx of money and capitalist-centric policies has a pretty clear track record in any urban environment...and it's NOT for the betterment of neighbourhoods like these or the people who live in them.

"Free market" ideas serve those who corner the market, and that ain't these folks.

As to Kodachrome - yes, its colour rendition was wonderful. Realistic and subtle -- interestingly, I think Kodak's Portra 400 comes really close to that 'feel'.

 

[ParkerSmithPhoto]

Not to devolve into a political discussion, Parker, but an influx of money and capitalist-centric policies has a pretty clear track record in any urban environment...and it's NOT for the betterment of neighbourhoods like these or the people who live in them.

"Free market" ideas serve those who corner the market, and that ain't these folks.

Havana, Cuba was once a thriving, cosmopolitan city with extraordinary architecture and abundant natural resources. Detroit once had the highest per capita income of any city in the world. As their politics moved leftward, their cities turned into relics of civilization. Again, please see Andrew Moore's large format photographs in both of these cities for visual proof. They are in ruins.

Capitalists, on the other hand, make things nice and shiny and clean. It's simple: if someone owns something, they tend to take care of it. Those falling down buildings are generally "owned" by the city of New York, as their previous true owners were rent controlled into financial oblivion, and thus walked away from the properties.

What if all of those falling down buildings were fixed up so that all those poor people had a clean, safe place to live? If the government spent tax money on it, everyone would applaud; if a group of investors did it, all the whiners would complain about "greedy landlords."

So, the people stay poor, and the buildings keep crumbling. Way to go!

 

[chriscrawfordphoto]

Havana, Cuba was once a thriving, cosmopolitan city with extraordinary architecture and abundant natural resources. Detroit once had the highest per capita income of any city in the world. As their politics moved leftward, their cities turned into relics of civilization. Again, please see Andrew Moore's large format photographs in both of these cities for visual proof. They are in ruins.

Capitalists, on the other hand, make things nice and shiny and clean. It's simple: if someone owns something, they tend to take care of it. Those falling down buildings are generally "owned" by the city of New York, as their previous true owners were rent controlled into financial oblivion, and thus walked away from the properties.

What if all of those falling down buildings were fixed up so that all those poor people had a clean, safe place to live? If the government spent tax money on it, everyone would applaud; if a group of investors did it, all the whiners would complain about "greedy landlords."

So, the people stay poor, and the buildings keep crumbling. Way to go!

Cuba is a Communist country. Detroit is NOT in a Communist country. Gary, Indiana is another example; also not in a Communist country. Neither Gary nor Detroit had rent control. They were destroyed when the businesses that drove the economies in those cities left.

As for rent control causing poverty, its a load of horseshit. In the city I live in, an average one-bedroom apartment costs $400 a month. In New York, the average is $3000. There are poor people in Fort Wayne, but the poverty here is not the deep, grinding poverty seen in places with sky-high rents like New York. Greed alone causes it; there is no reason that New York landlords cannot make profits renting for much less. The apartment I just moved out of was a two bedroom costing $600 a month. It was in a middle class neighborhood, was in nice condition, my neighbors were good people, and the apartment's maintenance people fixed any problems fast. The company that owns it makes good profits, pays its employees good wages, and keeps their buildings in excellent condition while charging affordable rents.

 

[blansky]

I wish he had kept a consistent vantage point and used the same lens for each set of photos. Some of them appear shot with a wide angle, while others in the same set look telephoto (compare the relative sizes of the backgrounds). Those scans are pretty grubby, too. It really detracts from the presentation.

As with Andrew Moore's photos of Detroit and Cuba, what you are actually viewing in most of these photos is the effect of Socialist politics and economics on communities and the physical environment. Those once-beautiful buildings now covered with graffiti and crumbling into dust are brought to you by rent control and the welfare state.

What's fascinating is that most of the photographers who create this style of work are completely oblivious to this reality; in fact, most of them ignorantly ascribe these ruins to "Capitalist exploitation" or "racism" or some other boilerplate leftist claptrap, when ever the most rudimentary understanding of free-market economics would prove this to be false.

Wow.

 

[blockend]

Stunning work.