Since 2005, I have been documenting Eldridge Street. The eight block span is the nexus between the Lower East Side, Chinatown, SoHo, NoLIta, and the East Village. They each have there own influences onto neighborhood where by giving it a flavor of its own.
Lacking a better name, I've been calling the neighborhood Echito, east of Chinatown. Informally, it is bordered by Allen, Houston, Christie and Division Streets.
One hundred years ago it was the center of the Jewish Eastern European world. Beginning in the 1940s, a wave of Hispanic immigrants arrived to the U.S. and to Eldridge Street. By the 1980s, the Chinese slowly made there way in.
Transforming again, Echito is one of the last areas in Lower Manhattan to undergo gentrification. Eldridge Street is currently the chessboard between Chinatown and the Lower East Side. It is dotted by bars and boutiques as well as produce markets and noodle shops.
I was born and raised on this street. I still live in here. The changes that happened two blocks Orchard Street seemed to be inevitable on Eldridge Street as well. So a bit over three years ago, after the Yankees lost to the Angels in the playoffs, I began documenting Eldridge.
I photograph everyday life, street portraits, and the sense of community. I continue to work diligently at it.
This documentary gives me an opportunity to capture the impending future as well as hold on to aspects of my past. During the course of the project, after over 20 years of living on the same street, I finally met my neighbors.
This project is brought in part by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council's Manhattan Community Arts Fund in 2008.
The works displayed here is only a selection of a much larger body of work. They are available for sale in sizes of 11x14. and 16x20.. All prints are archival silver gelatin fiber based, selenium-toned and signed. Please contact the artist at edphoto2 @ echito.com or +1 917 776 0835.
During the day, Edward works as a freelance computer programmer. He travels when he gets a chance. He likes pina coladas, getting caught in the rain, he's not into yoga and has half a brain.