167 Voices is a project about representation and empowerment. It was launched at a time when waves of tourists, inspired by Joker, began to flood the stairs on 167th Street in the Highbridge area in the Bronx. These stairs began to see an influx in tourism shortly after the release of the film leading to a sudden disruption of the neighboring community.
The stairs which are regularly used by residents of the area during daily commutes suddenly saw groups of tourists from all around the world hanging around posing and taking selfies. Hearing the frustration of many locals in the area, and growing up not too far from there, I decided to do something.
The goal from the very beginning was to create a project that would highlight the community and help them to reclaim what was suddenly being dubbed “The Joker Stairs” by tourists. It’s a project about shifting the focus from “Selfies and hashtags” to the people most at risk of displacement; it’s about making sure that they’re not forgotten. I set out to capture 167 individuals from the area to help repaint the narrative about the stairs so that anyone visiting would know that the stairs are more than just a photo opt but a vibrant and significant part of the community. I also wanted to help the community gain insight into the people visiting the area in order to contextualize everything.
METHODS
In mid-October 2019, I began to visit the stairs every weekend and several weekdays to photograph locals and survey tourists. I wanted to photograph locals to put their portraits on the walls alongside the stairs so that anytime people would take a selfie there would be someone from the community in the shot. It was art and design meets trolling and activism. I’d roll out my clipboard with surveys that I created whenever I saw a tourist and politely asked if they’d be interested in providing general information
about their visit such as where they were visiting from, how they discovered the stairs, and why they were there. Conversely, anytime that I saw a local, I’d ask them if they were interested in having their photograph taken for the project and so on. I, unfortunately, burned out a little over a month into it. lol. I had reached less than half of my target because of the winter and put the project on halt shortly after due to the new pandemic.
A SUMMARY OF THE DATA
41 WERE FIRST-TIME VISITORS
VISITING FROM 24 CITIES
45 ARRIVED BY TRAIN/BUS
09 WHO TOOK TAXI/UBER
05 DROVE IN
VISITORS BY GENDER
VISITORS BY AGE GROUP
VISITING FROM
LESSONS LEARNED & FINAL THOUGHTS
Though it’s technically still a work in progress, much has changed since I began. COVID-19 meant that the borders, for the most part, were closed and tourism to the area was no longer as intrusive as before. In a way, the pandemic helped me to solve at least one part of my mission. It helped to slow things down which has allowed the locals to reclaim the space within their community.
Whether 167 Voices will become a project that never really happened or a one-day event to celebrate the community is uncertain. What we can be certain of is that Highbridge and the residents beside the 167 steps have a bright future ahead. Hopefully, it’s one where the Joker movie is only remembered as a joke and the world gets to know the beautiful people that reside there.
P.S. Click here for the segment featured on News12.
I’d like to give a very special thank you to everyone that volunteered on this project including Carlita Lopez (@Carlitaz_way) who helped document this project and Monica Flores (@hechoenelbronx) who spoke to residents.