"Out My Window" is a project in progress. I am continuously working to add neighborhoods to the New York City iteration, as well as cities to the global project, which already includes cities in Argentina, France, and Italy. In an effort to truly capture the broad and beautiful essence of the city I call home—New York City—I am seeking to expand the neighborhoods and stories portrayed here. Below, you can find photos I've shot to this end, but whose neighborhoods I'm still seeking to document further.
If you would like to participate in Out My Window, please go ask your neighbor’s permission and email a snap shot of the view from one window to the other with the subject line “Out My Window: Participate.” Let me know what city you live in. If it works for the project, I will write back. gail@gailalberthalaban.com
They often come home tired - I think they work very hard. On Thursdays he is out very late - is he with friends or working? Every Thursdays she seems to have a solo dinner date - it isn’t the kind of dinner I make for myself when I am alone (usually a frozen Amy’s meal) but instead an elaborate salad - with a least 10 vegetables and a homemade vinaigrette, a fresh roll (I wonder where she gets it because there isn’t a good bakery nearby but then I wonder if she goes to the Norwood farmstand on Thursdays to buy her ingredients) and then what looks like a molten chocolate cake for desert (does she make this for herself? I see eggs and butter on the counter so I think she must). - last night, a Wednesday he tried desperately to win her over, at first I didn’t think it would work but then when I saw him put dinner on the table and could hear the music through their open window, and they began to dance - i know he had succeeded
The rest of the building rouses with families returning from work. A little boy is sat down at the table while the grandparents shamelessly flirt in the privacy of the kitchen, giggling to each other when they should be preparing the food. The grandmother likes making her husband laugh, since he tries to act serious and stoic around his grandson and son-in-law. Downstairs, a man and his husband have just returned from the art studio. They play music all day while painting, so they spend their evenings in silence, sipping on tea in the living room while hearing the clamoring and soft music drift down from upstairs.
The Bronx has some really beautiful architecture, if you know where to look. This is the Lenru Building, in the Norwood neighborhood. A Jacobethan Revival complex with seven buildings around a large green courtyard and community garden, with Williamsbridge Oval Park in the background. It’s home to artists, healthcare workers, teachers, and more amazing people. Pam and Pablo on the top floor, seen dancing here, have lived at the Lenru for decades. Keisha and John are both educators–their son Robin, seen at the table, is adored by all of their neighbors. Keisha’s parents can be seen in a smiling embrace in the kitchen. Douglas and Fabio relocated to the Lenru from Brooklyn: Fabio, seen holding Higgins the tuxedo cat, is an illustrator and graphic designer from Brazil. Douglas, in the kitchen, works in real estate. I tried going through all sorts of formal organizations and art councils to get into a building like this in the Bronx – but in the end, as always, it took the kindness of strangers, those personal connections, to get invited inside.
