Fragile Dwelling [Hardcover]

Margaret Morton (Photographer), Alan Trachtenberg (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 20, 2000

This is the third volume of photographs and text by Margaret Morton documenting the lives and living spaces of New York City's homeless population.

Over a ten-year period, Margaret Morton documented the inventive ways in which homeless people in New York City have created not only places to live but also communities that offer a sense of pride, place, and individuality.

Morton's camera reveals the ingenuity of builders who have constructed homes out of discarded materials such as warehouse pallets, junked auto parts, and demolition scrap. Her luminous photographs bring to light the determination and aesthetic sensibilities of all but forgotten people whose temporary encampments became permanent homes until they were demolished by the city. Seen together with compelling oral histories by the builders, Fragile Dwelling tells the universal story of a need for personal space and the resilience of the human spirit.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Using discarded scraps of wood, metal, plastic and any other available materials, formerly homeless New York men and women built improvised housing in the early '90s with care and a need for order, privacy and community. Morton (The Tunnel), a professor of art at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, befriended some of them and documented their structures. The result is this haunting collection of 90 stark, sharply reproduced b&w photos, with captions by Morton, an introduction by housing critic and scholar Alan Trachtenberg, and commentary from the builders themselves. "If I don't do something here, my mind will die," says Hector A. of his Bushville cabin in the East Village. The homes at Bushville, "The Hill" and other areas, often under bridges or on abandoned piers, are shown with the wreaths and religious icons that often mark their entryways, and the pots, cookstoves, couches, beds and furniture drawn from a city full of discards. Since New York systematically bulldozed all of the camps shown (the last was demolished in 1996), Morton's book is an important testament to the will and ingenuity of their inhabitants. (Nov.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Morton, a photographer published in many prominent magazines and newspapers, brought more than a camera and an artist's eye with her when she started visiting the shantytowns of New York City in 1989; she brought respect, compassion, and a sense of wonder. She also used a tape recorder to preserve the stories of the people she visited, straightforward tales of homelessness that remind readers of how precarious existence is for everyone. The men also talk about how they built their small, often ingenious, and always precious homes, "fragile dwellings" that speak of so much more than basic survival. Morton's strongly composed and regal black-and-white photographs of improvised huts, tents, and gardens created in empty lots and beneath highway ramps and bridges focus on the personal touch--signs, decorations, and souvenirs of cultural ties to other lands and other times. Her striking portraits of the steadfast, independent, and resourceful residents of these endangered communities (all were bulldozed) capture their love for each other, their pets, and a bit of earth, however tenuous their connection to it. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Aperture (October 20, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0893819158
• ISBN-13: 978-0893819156
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #361,051 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #4 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Current Events > Poverty > Homelessness

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful book..., December 1, 2001

By 

A. Ort "aorto" (Youngstown, Ohio) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fragile Dwelling (Hardcover)

Margaret Morton has a way of allowing her photos to speak to us. We are at once drawn and repelled by her photos. I believe her subject matter taps into something 'primal' (not in the sense of 'primitive' but in the sense of 'real') in all of us.

While the photos, in black and white, are quite stark, there is an element of beauty that seeps from the reality of the subjects photographed. There is not much sensationalism and there is a sense of pride in the dwellings constructed. Morton's photos and allowing the people to speak for themselves makes for an insightful and moving photo essay.

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