About Susan Schiffman’s portraits of rent-stabilized East Village homes

Longtime East Village resident Susan Schiffman is the subject of a Times feature today (the online version is here). 

The piece focuses on her work photographing rent-stabilized apartments in the neighborhood. 

Since 2016, Ms. Schiffman has been photographing dozens of her neighboring East Village apartments. Her photos depict the clutter that collects when one lives in the same home for decades, the intimacies of people's domestic lives and the homemade quality of spaces that have never been renovated. 

The scenes are timeless in that there are few, if any, elements that give away exactly when they were photographed — many of them look like they were captured decades ago, stuck in a past version of New York. The images are meant to be portraits of the tenants, without actually showing any people in them. 

With the city's housing crisis as a backdrop and with the rent-stabilization system’s promise of affordability feeling threatened, Ms. Schiffman's photos evoke a soothing, homey sentiment. The apartments she documents are unfussy and far from luxurious, but are full of character and are strongly loved homes in their own sense.

You can find her images on Instagram. And through the years, EVG has been pleased to publish her work and interviews. You can access the archives here. 

Susan is also part of a group show at Galerie Shibumi, 13 Market St., near East Broadway, through Oct. 20.

 

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