I originally planned to create this thread back in October of last year, but life sort of got in the way…oh, that and I am a master procrastinator....and I am stricken with "forum phobia" that Chris (ColDayMan) can probably shed more light on if he chooses...

 

Anyway, this thread, along with my ambition to make it, burrowed deep into the memory hole inside my mind…

 

Unlike a black hole in which nothing can escape, occasionally I am able to retrieve lost projects from the memory hole, and shine them up like new again, so you never know the difference…

 

For those who may be unaware, allow me to introduce to you some of the work of Chilean-born sociologist and photographer Camilo Jose Vergara:

 

Read....

 

Camilo Jose Vergara has documented the decline of the built environment in the United States since he arrived in the country in 1965 to attend college at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. As he began to document the physical environment around the city, Vergara found that he was instinctively drawn towards the more dilapidated and economically impoverished parts of town. Not only did Vergara find a bit of his own childhood in those type of areas, but he also felt more connected with the people there and became fascinated with how they interacted with their surroundings.

 

In 1977, following his graduate studies at Columbia University in New York, he first began to undertake a comprehensive effort to document the largest ghettos in the United States. His collection of over 20,000 color slides includes extensive coverage of urban decay in New York, Newark, Chicago, Gary, Camden, Detroit, and Los Angeles.

 

Vergara has also compiled a “sizeable” number of slides from Philadelphia, Oakland, Cincinnati, Boston, Trenton, Atlantic City, Washington D.C., Richmond, CA, Cleveland’s Hough neighborhood, and Miami’s Liberty City neighborhood.

 

 

This particular thread is focused on Vergara’s photographic documentation of Camden, New Jersey. These photos and more can be found on an interactive online gallery, hosted by Rutgers University, Camden and funded by the Ford Foundation.

 

The website, http://invinciblecities.camden.rutgers.edu/intro.html features photographs that capture the devolution of the built environment and the interaction between the environment and the residents who dwell in there; specifically the cities of Camden, New Jersey and Richmond, California. I found the photos of Camden particularly compelling and I think some of you may as well.

 

101-105 Linden St., 2005;

 

2039 Arlington St. 2003:

 

2121 Mt. Ephraim Ave. 2005:

 

Camden, New Jersey, originally conceived as a suburb of Philadelphia, is known among other things as the birthplace of the color television, drive-in movie theater,

Campbell’s Soup Company, and RCA Victor (formerly the world’s largest phonograph manufacturer).

 

2865 Van Buren Ave. 2005:

 

401 Broadway, 1982:

 

519, Bailey St. 2004:

 

Based on statistics reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Camden has been ranked the nation's most dangerous city in 2004 and 2005. "Most dangerous city" is based on crime statistics in six categories: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, and auto theft.

 

 

In 2004, Camden was declared "America's Most Dangerous City" by the Morgan Quitno Corporation, up from third place in 2003 and topping the 354 U.S. cities studied. The city was named "Most Dangerous" again in 2005 out of 369 cities ranked nationwide, with Detroit, Michigan and St. Louis, Missouri in second and third place respectively.

 

603-607 S. 4th St., 2005:

 

However, in 2005, homicides in Camden dropped significantly, to 34 — fifteen fewer murders than were reported in 2004. Though Camden's murder rate is still much higher than the national average, the reduction in 2005 was a drop of over thirty percent.

 

613-619, York St., 2004:

 

619-623, Bailey St. 2004:

 

In several instances, we can see the toll that time has taken on the built environment, as Vergara often returns with his camera to specific locations...

 

THEN, 623-627 State St., 1979:

 

NOW, 623-627 State St., 2004:

 

705-713, York St., 1980:

 

Overgrown weeds overtake sidewalk, forcing pedestrians into the street:

 

827 Broadway, 2004:

 

828-824 Bailey St. 2003:

 

THEN, 900 Block of Fern St., 1979:

 

THEN, 900 Block of Fern St., 1988:

 

NOW: 900 Block of Fern St., 2005

 

Broadway,1980:

 

South 9th St., 2004:

 

South 8th St. 2004:

 

THEN, 937 West Fern St., 1979:

 

THEN, 937 West Fern St., 1988:

 

Carmen Diaz’s Living Room, 937 Fern St., 1996:

 

THEN, 937 West Fern St., 1996: ( Carmen Diaz can be seen out from her porch):

 

THEN: 937 West Fern St., 2004

 

Ablett Village, on Pierce Avenue, 2005:

 

Blana & Spruce St., 2005:

 

Broadway & Line St., 1982:

 

Broadway & Mt. Vernon St. 1979:

 

Broadway & Mt. Vernon St. 1979:

 

Broadway & Pine, 1982:

 

Broadway & Washington, 1994:

 

Broadwayb & Cherry, 1992:

 

Broadway & Kaighns, 2004:

 

Broadway & Newton, 2003:

 

Broadway, south of Pine, 1979:

 

Broadway, south of Whitman, 2005:

 

Camden County Jail, 1992:

 

Camden Free Library, 1992:

 

Camden Free Library, 1997:

 

Clover St. & Kaighns Ave., 2004:

 

BEFORE, East along York St. from N. 8th St. 1979:

 

AFTER, East along York St. from N. 8th St. 2005:

 

2nd St. and York St., 2005:

 

N. 4th along Bailey St. 1993:

 

Elgin Diner, 2005:

 

10th St. west of Elm St. 1982:

 

Gas station from the 1920s, Ferry Ave., 2004:

 

N. 9th St. & Grant St., 1982:

 

Higher Ground Temple Church, 2003:

 

Iglesia Penecostal, 2003:

 

Erie St., 1980:

 

Kelly Miller Circus, 2nd & Federal Sts., 2004:

 

Memorials, Louis St., 2004:

 

Mickle & 26th St. 2004, They sell barbeque chicken & school supplies here, and read the Bible when no one is around:

 

BEFORE, Morgan Village Middle School, 2003:

 

AFTER, Morgan Village Middle School, 2004:

 

Mt. Ephraim Ave & Carl Miller St. 2004:

 

Mt. Zion, 295 Chestnut, 2004:

 

Mt. Vernon & S. 6th St. 2004:

 

N. 5th & State, 1993:

 

Broadway from Walnut, 1982:

 

NW corner of B'way & Chelton Ave, 2003:

 

New Gospel Freedom Church, 2004:

 

Between 3rd & 4th Sts, N. of Erie, 1993:

 

One Port Center, 2005:

 

Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center, 2005:

 

Pastor Edward Young:

 

THEN, Point St & Wood, 1981:

 

NOW, Point St & Wood, 1996:

 

THEN, Broadway towards Cherry St., 1982:

 

NOW, Broadway towards Cherry St., 2003:

 

Ships dismantled, to be sent to the far east for recycling:

 

Relatively stable neighborhoods in Camden (See, it's not a complete urban wasteland!):

 

Looking over Westfield Ave., 2003:

 

Mt. Ephriam 2004:

 

Norris St., NE of Browning, 2004:

 

Tan Phat Noodle House, 2005:

 

Victory Baptist Church, North Camden:

 

 

Back to the hood....

THEN, View east from Northgate, 1992:

 

NOW, View east from Northgate, 2004:

 

View east along Gordon St. from Broadway, 2004:

 

THEN, View along Broadway from Division St. (now Ramona Gonzales) 1982:

 

NOW, View along Broadway from Division St. (now Ramona Gonzales) 2004:

 

The next three images were taken looking north along Linwood from Vine & Elm, 1980:

 

View along Linwood towards Vine, 1981:

 

Looking north from N.10 St. West of Elm St., 1981:

 

THEN, View from Northgate,looking SE, 1994:

 

THEN, View from Northgate,looking SE, 2000:

 

THEN, View at State & 4th St., looking SE, 1980:

 

NOW, View at State & 4th St., looking SE, 2004:

This block appears to have weathered the last 25 years much better than others, with a noticeable improvement in condition.

 

 

View of Philadelphia skyline from Kennedy Towers, 2004:

 

View from Penn near Rutgers, 2004:

 

Northwest along Broadway from Walnut, 1982:

 

Walt Whitman's House:

 

Camden Ward Center for Children, 2005:

 

THEN, York St. from N. 4th St, 1980:

 

NOW, York St. from N. 4th St, 2005:

 

 

FIN.

 

Wow.  A lot of photos and the picture it paints is pretty rough.  Great photos though.

powerful stuff. thx for posting those.

He posts!

Cool thread, its too bad that library isn't used anymore...it's a beauty.

Stunningly disturbing.  Thanks for sharing these pics with us.

I have two of Veragas books, and I recall some of these Camden images being in them...the progressive deterioration and demolition of the urban fabric of Camden and other cities.

 

If I recall right there was some sort of a controversy around his work or his written statements (about Detroit, I think), and I think his work was the inspiration behind Lowell Boileaus' "Fabulous Ruins of Detroit" website, though I'm not sure of the chronology there. It could be that Boileaus' site and "The New American Ghetto" surfaced around the same time.

 

I'd say Veragas' work has been as much an inspiration for my pix of Dayton as Myer and Wades' Chicago Growth of a Metropolis and American Scene painting.