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The Arts Poetry Film Music Gallery Fiction  The Arts: Art Gallery    The Changing Face of Harlem: Photographs by Alice Attie (From Summer 2002) For the better part of a year, photographer Alice Attie set out to document a Harlem in transition. In a remarkable photo essay, she captures the grace and spirit of this historic urban community. by Silvia Curbelo Memorial, Harlem 2001 When Alice Attie began photographing these legendary streets, she hoped to document the passing of an era, the changing landscape of old Harlem giving way to the new. But after months spent among the people who call this varied and vibrant community their home, another richer and more complex story began to emerge. Vernon, Harlem 2000 "I rode my bicycle into Harlem every day for a year," says Attie, who lives a short walk away from the heart of this historic neighborhood. "Talking to the people I photographed, I kept hearing similar phrases over and over: 'It was better for us when everybody was afraid to come up here.' " That feeling drastically changed a few years back when the mega-retailers—Disney, Starbucks, Blockbuster—took notice and began moving there in search of untapped dollars. Sunday, Harlem 2001 "This gives new meaning to integration," Attie explains, a word that has become one more euphemism for white conglomerates taking over buildings and land where black-owned shops and mom-and-pop restaurants once flourished. "One sad thing I learned," says Attie, "is that the people of Harlem own only 3% of the property." The other 97% is now selling briskly, at inflated prices most of its population can never hope to afford. "It's hard to see a community so viable and self-sufficient, and to see that self-sufficiency splintering." Summer, Harlem 2001 Photographing the expressive faces of its residents against backdrops of peeling plaster and the garish, fresh paint of the new, Attie has fashioned an affectionate portrait of a community and a way of life in danger of extinction. But at the heart of these images is a story of resiliency and pride, and a sense of place and history the urban renewal machinery must not erase. —Silvia Curbelo Natasha, Giselle, and Octavia, Harlem 2000 Alice Attie's photographs have shown at Adam Baumgold Fine Art in New York City, the Sundance Film Festival, and the International Women's University in Hanover, Germany, and have been featured in such magazines as Doubletake, Parnassus and Metropolis. In addition, her Harlem images were presented at the National Brazilian Association of Comparative Literature in San Paolo, Brazil, along with a lecture by Gayatri Spivak. An award-winning poet, Attie's literary works have also appeared in American Poetry Review, The Columbia Review, Pequod, Literal Latte and many other journals. She is on the faculty at Barnard College, Columbia University, and is represented by A.I.R. Gallery in New York City. For additional information on her work, contact the artist directly at (212) 866-8119 or (917) 647-4304, or email her at aa320@columbia.edu. The Dwyer Warehouse, Harlem 2001 Untitled, Harlem 2001 Glaspie Realty, Harlem 2001 Return to top