This amazing series of photos can be see on the High Line until October 2nd.
HBO Documentaries are always a thing of in-depth research and quality filmmaking in every aspect. Their latest documentary, Class Divide, looks to uphold that level of quality. The film highlights the recent effects of gentrification in New York City’s West Chelsea neighborhood, specifically focusing on an intersection where a private school and a public housing complex sit across the street from one another. The film analyzes the economic forces affecting the regular people living in this neighborhood and chronicles the effects of rising inequality and stagnant class mobility.
In the making and promotion of the film, they had the kids from both sides of the neighborhood along with help from nonprofits that support the neighborhood and the park, namely Street Dreams Magazine, Hudson Guild, Avenues: The World School and Friends of the High Line. The photo series highlights the two different perspectives the kids from both sides of the neighborhood have, as well as the similarities they share, despite different ethnic and economics backgrounds.
Throughout the opening night of the photo gallery, the crowd was impressed not only by the similar and contrasting views of the kids, but the quality of the work. The VP of Documentary programming at HBO, Nancy Abraham, summed up their goal perfectly when she said “We’d like to think that if we do our job right, our documentaries are meaningful to people when they watch them. What’s really tremendous is to have such a meaningful, real engagement with lots of different people the way that you brought it to life tonight”. The effort and time HBO committed to the documentary so that they could change the perspective of not only the kids in the documentary but those of the people in the neighborhood is astounding.
Check out the documentary highlighting the film this Monday, October 3rd.
[slideshow]
