'The New Normal'

John Hill
26. juin 2020
Photo © Camilo José Vergara

Photographer and writer Camilo José Vergara has long trained his lens on the streets of cities (see "The Other Shinola: A Proposal"), mainly poor and minority areas and particularly New York, where he lives. His latest outing is Documenting Crossroads: The New Normal, which captures the efforts of residents in poor, segregated neighborhoods as they go about their lives during a pandemic. The photos see Vergara bouncing from one "crossroad" to another in Harlem, Queens, Newark, New Jersey and other neighborhoods over the last few months.

"April 17, 2020: Three homeless men in their usual spot, a side entrance to the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, West 110th Street at Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY." (Photo © Camilo José Vergara)

Done with architectural historian Elihu Rubin from the Yale School of Architecture, the online exhibition includes a slideshow of Vergara's photographs — partitioned by such themes as "New Street Ballet" and "Carving Out Space" — and essays by Vergara and Rubin. Even though many people in New York City are working from home to deter the spread of COVID-19, the images and words of the exhibition reveal that New York's metro area is still teeming with people: the essential workers, the homeless, and others displaying what Rubin calls "this new urban ballet of social coordination."

"June 3, 2020: An open but boarded up Shake Shack in the aftermath of the violence and looting precipitated by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis; Fifth Avenue at 125th Street, Harlem, New York, NY." (Photo © Camilo José Vergara)

Visit the National Building Museum's website to see the entire Documenting Crossroads: The New Normal by Camilo José Vergara with Elihu Rubin; and see also the earlier exhibition it accompanies: Documenting Crossroads: The Coronavirus in Poor, Minority Communities by Camilo José Vergara with Chrysanthe Broikos.

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