Background
According to the book, ''Project Lives'' grew out of one of the largest participatory photography programs ever undertaken. The editors brought the program to thePhotographers
The work of 42 different photographers are featured in the ''Project Lives'' book, mostly children, preteens, and seniors who have lived in the housing projects for a long time. Marcia Morales, Jared Wellington, Gertrude Livingston, and Aaliyah Colon are four resident photographers who provide their first-person accounts in the book. Znya Mourning was interviewed by WPIX11 on April 10, 2015, and both Mourning and Margaret Wells were interviewed on National Public Radio on July 23. On NPR, the photographers spoke about what it's like to live in the projects and be viewed through a distorted lens. "There's still a normalcy about what's going on," said Wells. Added Mourning: "Everybody sees the word 'project' in a different way. I see it as a place where I live. I don't see it in a negative aspect."Photographs
The book includes 84 full-color photographs: inside and exterior views, resident portraits, still lifes, and landscapes. There are no photographs of crime, disrepair, or other negative aspects. The editors said they advised participants to photograph what was important to them. The total absence of photos of stopped-up toilets, bullet casings, and their like was a delight to the editors. Said Carrano, "They place a higher value on their sense of community, their sense of sharing with their neighbors than complaining about disrepair. It's humbling." Fisher noted, "If I lived in the projects I might be focusing on something else."Editors and book origins
Carrano, Davis, and Fisher describe themselves as native New Yorkers. Carrano brought the ''Project Lives'' program to the housing authority on behalf of his Seeing for Ourselves nonprofit. Courses for the residents were taught by Davis and the book's text was written by Carrano and Fisher. Carrano and Davis had extensive experience in participatory photography prior to ''Project Lives.'' Carrano had curated exhibits of war photojournalism and participatory photography that ''The New York Times'' termed "poignant" and "required viewing." Davis took part in art enrichment programs at New York's Association for Metro Area Autistic Children and started a participatory photography program in the oncology ward at St. Louis Children's Hospital, a program that is ongoing. Video work created by Fisher and Davis for NYCHA won an award from the National Association of Government Communicators in 2014. Carrano and Fisher's previous employment at New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority helped inspire ''Project Lives''. Said Carrano: "I started working for the New York City Transit Authority back in the ‘70s and the garage where I was working in is directly across from the street from theComposition and publication
The book begins by describing the ''Project Lives'' program and then widens to situate housing projects within the larger context of today's affordable housing crisis. The next section focuses on the stakes involved in refunding the housing projects. The destruction of the Pruitt-Igoe public housing complex in St. Louis is brought up many times as a dire example of the potential consequences for New York City's housing projects. The narrative touches on specific photographs only briefly, leaving it to the photographers to have their say about what they have depicted. On the book jacket is a tribute by John T. Hill, a former director of graduate studies in photography atWebsite
The book website contains background information, sample photographs, links to social media, a blog, and more.Reception
By July 2015, ''Project Lives'' had been featured or reviewed by approximately 24 local, national, and international media outlets. Because media coverage included extensive selections from the photography collection, the photos ended up being viewed many orders of magnitude more times than the number who read the book alone. All media coverage was positive, with most featuring interviews with the editors and questions about how the program began, what the workshops were like, and what the editors hoped to achieve. ''The New York Times'' noted that "Most New Yorkers know what public housing looks like from the outside, but a bracingly simple compilation of pictures takes us into the interiors of the buildings and thus into the residents' startlingly ordinary lives." Noting the book's focus on Pruitt-Igoe, ''Politico Magazine'' advised that NYCHA's ability to make a comeback will have a crucial bearing on the shape of the country's future safety net. ''BuzzFeed'' enthused: "Beautiful…an unprecedented and intimate look into the lives of New York City public housing residents." The ''New York Daily News'' and ''Time'' described ''Project Lives'' straightforwardly. ''Slates Behold blog summed up: "By presenting this look at life in the projects, people in New York and beyond will see why they are worth funding and call for action." The ''New York Review of Books'' featured a photograph from ''Project Lives'' to illustrate an essay on poverty. ''Portrayal of the housing authority
Although NYCHA's reaction to ''Project Lives'' is unknown, the program description remains on the NYCHA website. The book calls out agency missteps that have contributed to the negative media image surrounding the housing projects. Even so, the book defends the agency repeatedly, noting that it was all but guaranteed the agency would be unable to keep up once government funding was cut even as the infrastructure was aging. The book indicates that while the agency's centralized command and control practice was outdated, plans were afoot in 2014 by a new administration to devolve more power to local building management. ''Project Lives'' also argues that, contrary to public outcry, the agency's delay in placing closed-circuit television cameras at Boulevard Houses did not set the stage for the notorious killing of a six-year-old resident in June 2014. Finally, the book's outlook onFunding progress since publication
Shortly before ''Project Lives'' was published there were reports of moves by New York City and New York State to restart support of the housing projects Apparently the funding effort has not gone smoothly, with the state reportedly attempting to keep NYCHA from controlling its contribution and the city pushing back. The city comptroller, whose harshly critical views of NYCHA are recorded in ''Project Lives'', continued issuing negative audits of the agency. What impact this controversy has on the higher stakes of restoring federal funding is not known. Carrano said to the ''Long Island Press'', "I would like to see the resident photographers who participated in this book have an opportunity to testify in Congress on hearings that focus on affordable housing. Sympathetic Congressmen could hold ad hoc hearings in the Rayburn building and bring together like-minded Congress-people to hear testimony of people living in public housing. That would be a valuable way to shine light on this issue."Exhibitions
Exhibitions of photographs featured in the book have taken place in the New York metropolitan area. Photographs were exhibited at the powerHouse Arena in DUMBO April 6–20, 2015 and Artspace Patchogue May 23-June 10, 2015. An exhibit at the fotofoto Gallery in Huntington ran July 31-August 29, 2015, and at the Art League of Long Island June 21-August 22, 2016. ''Project Lives'' was also included in exhibitions about affordable New York City housing at the Museum of the City of New York, September 18, 2015 – February 7, 2016, and at the Hunter East Harlem Gallery, February 10-May 15, 2016.References
External links
* http://www.powerhousebooks.com/books/project-lives/ * http://www.projectlivesbook.com/ {{Housing rights in New York 2015 non-fiction books Photographic collections and books Public housing in New York City PowerHouse Books books