reflections

the studio series

almost a year after spending hours upon hours in the top floor of an aging building in the area of cincinnati known as lower price hill, i find myself passing through the photos that i took during those warm summer nights (and occacionally the days that preceded them). there have been two pictures from this brief period presented in one form or another on this blog: "escape" and "a study of perspective". here is another image from that same space.

the warehouse where the studio is found stands in what was previously considered the appalacian ghetto, and what is now where small pockets of differing ethnic groups search for an existence in the american landscape. the appalachians are still there -though not to the same numbers nor same concentration (one can even begin to wonder to what degree they mantain any appalachian traditions through the necessity of aculturization, but this is a question for another time)- but there are also a few groups of differing latin american origins. there is not a large african american population in this small part of the city. one common characteristic marks each subgroup of the lower price hill ghetto, financial hardship.

when i was much younger, the school where i studied, in a type of urban outreach, sent the religion class (almost more of a social awareness class than religion thanks to the teacher's personal political views and his proximity to a local community leader, Buddy Gray, who was killed in over-the-rhine) to a school in lower price hill to tutor local children in reading. there was a very low percentage of literate locals and this had a reflexion in the low reading levels of the children in this school. the 4th grader that i personally tutored once a week repeatedly struggled to read the word "the", and there was clearly no creation of a culture of learning at home, but nor was there for her parents (one can assume) and though seemingly paternalistic, there might just be a social responsibility to assist in the creation of (at least) an awareness of the "true" value of education and its surrounding culture.

the difference in culture is reflected in the levels of this fotograph. the first. closer level to the camera, or the eye of the observer is the reflection of the artsists working in a space elevated above the empty and dark streets below, barely visible for the one light that dimly iluminates only the nearest surroundings. below in the dark, not only is the speed limited (25mhp), but also the inhabitants. their world is really limitted there, below. the elevation of the surrounding buildings and the derelict nature offer neither wealth nor comfort. besides new inhabitants moving the the area, very little comes from the outside either, very few but the local inhabitants feel comfortable stepping inside of this small sub-world.

above, in the internally lit artistic space there is a marked difference. against the panes of glass clear reflections of two artists -separated by doors and locks from the world beneath- foster their artistic visions. both with at least some artistic education, the views seems to be much broader. also, elevated above the darkness and the urban poverty, the view appears to be much broader. but the perspective can only be broad because of having experienced, in some way, the world beneath them. the artists have to walk through the spaces of (created and perceived) dereliction and hopeless to find the realization of their artistic vision.