Lovejoy: Imagination and Community

Lovejoy is a photographic portrait of memory, imagination and the future of a neighborhood in Buffalo, New York. For nearly a century, my great-grandparents, grandfather, uncles and cousins lived in the house on Goethe Street in Lovejoy. It was once a vibrant working-class community of immigrants from a few towns in Central and Southern Italy. In 2020, I moved back to Buffalo, regularly visiting my elderly relative who still lived there. She died later that same year. Photography, which has long been a form of self-expression for me, was the medium I had at hand when we started to clean out the house. Taking pictures in our family home before it sold was the start of a project that is both autobiographical and about the people in Lovejoy today. Even as the old stores were replaced with boarded up storefronts and the neighborhood gave way to post-industrial urban decay, a group of previous residents and their children stayed connected through a local social club and the church. Many travel to Lovejoy to play bocce and keep alive the community that in the past filled the streets. Taking pictures of these gatherings has made me realize that they are seeking to reconnect with their history, just as I am. I use the tools of documentary to create a subjective and personal project. My photographs are the result of my wandering through the neighborhood, arranging to meet people through my contacts in the community, and engaging in a form of participant observation. As I photograph the new