Photography

15” x 19”

During one of the times I was unhoused, I was squatting in vacant buildings in Minneapolis. One was the gold medal flour building. Shortly after I had the opportunity to not only have a place to live in Chicago but to go to school for photography, I heard the city was going to clean it up and make a museum out of it. For my final project in my 35 mm class, I took a trip back to Minneapolis with the intent of preserving my memories from that time before they were erased and to share them with my younger sister. I used her as a model in the winter, using long exposure and Fuji Neopan high contrast film to evoke the feeling I had of living in such a space. The image captures the lingering feeling of homelessness once held there. Returning to that place and time brought everything back—the fear, instability, and memories. This was taken near the elevator shaft door where people and a few dogs I knew had fallen to their death. We called it the doorway of death because the shaft door had been open and when it was dark, it was easy to fall in especially when chased. The door was shut upon my return, maybe a first in any steps to make it safer for the future. I was looking for closure for the path I once walked making me more grateful for the current trajectory I was on. This photograph serves as a final witness, preserving what time and space tried to erase but couldn’t.