Stephanie Keith's Proposal

The New York City Housing Projects were originally built to house middle class families in an idyllic setting, but have instead become a concentration of an urban underprivileged class. They have long been synonymous in the public eye with drugs, violence and despair. Although there is some truth to this impression, there has been little visual documentation to bring the whole picture into focus beyond the stereotypes of welfare Moms and gang warfare. The projects are a complex mixture of both beauty and brutality filled with families that care about each other. My photo project will explore the stereotypes, and bring a greater understanding of the unique culture that exists in the projects.

My first contact with the projects came through following a high schooled aged football league designed for kids living in and around the projects; some of the most gang infested neighborhoods in NYC. The first time I visited one of the football Moms, the city bus left me off in front of the sprawling complex known as the Webster House in the Bronx. The Mom later told me, "I'm glad that you weren't too afraid to come in". She doesn't always feel safe either, and is aware of the negative stereotype. When talking to someone else in the projects about my photo story, he said, "so you want pictures of drugs and guns" as if those were the only images people wanted to see.

The projects have been changing lately. The new rules about Welfare becoming Workfare have changed the structure of the families. A Mother who formerly stayed at home with her children, now works ten or twelve hours a day. She may have a fuller budget, but money now goes to day care.

Violence, which has been a mainstay of project life, has calmed down. People from different ethnicities are moving in. I want to use my positive voice to those people who want a good life either outside or inside the projects. I want to help change a negative stereotype by showing life's complexities beyond a simple snapshot. My essay will also explore the larger issues why people choose to stay in the projects. Do people just stay out of financial necessity? Or, are they comfortable there? Some people would say that the projects are not so bad. Some people would say that they were.