Tunnel People
For a while in the 1990s, New York had an underground scene for the homeless—literally underground, in the city’s labyrinthine network of tunnels. Down there, hidden from disapproving looks, they created a micro-society with tacit rules and hierarchies, smoking crack and building makeshift houses. They shared the space with graffiti artists, including Chris Pape, aka Freedom, who used the dark walls of the tunnels as canvas. It was over by 1996.
Before their eviction, over the course of six months in 1994 and 1995, the photographer and anthropologist Teun Voeten shared their soiled mattresses and cold preserves, their heated discussions and political debates. He turned the project into a book, almost without photos, where we meet colorful characters like Bernard, “Lord of the Tunnel,” a beer lover and self-proclaimed professional can collector who punctuates each sentence with a philosophical quotation. He swears that there’s nowhere better than inside the tunnel. “Homeless? Here is my home,” he says. “This is the kitchen. Fully equipped with stuff I found on the street. I got a living room of twenty city blocks. Few people up on top can say the same.”
Then there’s Frankie, an incorrigible optimist; Kathy and boyfriend Joe with their horde of cats; Bob, the coffee addict; and Tony, playing the big-shot businessman with his roll of 1-dollar bills and some quarters. Voeten followed them until they were evicted, then went to find them again ten years later. The exhibition gathers the photographs Voeten took of them during the months he spent in the tunnel.
Photoville
Tunnel Love, Teun Voeten
Until September 28, 2014
Pier 5 – Brooklyn Bridge Park
New York, USA
