2017 GANYC Apple Awards Nominee: Hidden in Plain Sight: Portraits of Hunger in NYC, Brooklyn Historical Society

Each year, GANYC proudly honors organizations and individuals that encourage and promote New York City tourism, culture and preservation, while supporting the work and contributions of professional New York City tour guides. The 2017 GANYC Apple Awards is coming up, on Monday, March 6, 2017. This year there are 44 nominees. Below, is an interview with a representative for one of them.

Nomination: Hidden in Plain Sight: Portraits of Hunger in NYC, Brooklyn Historical Society, Outstanding Achievement in New York City Museum Exhibitions (October 1, 2015 – September 30, 2016)

Joey O’Loughlin is the exhibit photographer for Hidden in Plain Sight: Portraits of Hunger in NYC. The creative force behind the exhibit includes curator Jake Price and other staff at the Brooklyn Historical Society. Joey lives in Brooklyn and her photojournalist work focuses on social justice and humanitarian issues both locally and around the world.

What was the main source of inspiration for the exhibit?

The exhibit was inspired by the dignity of the working poor families I met through my partnership with Food Bank for NYC, the desire to make their experiences known, and to encourage thoughtful solutions to the contemporary hunger crisis. For many of us, American hunger has been framed by powerful images from another time – Depression Era pictures of bread lines and the Dust Bowl, or turn-of-the-century photos of urban poverty in city tenements. But the people I photographed don’t look like that – they’re well dressed, have jobs and families and responsibilities just like everyone else. We share neighborhoods and subway cars, but their hardships are unacknowledged. Those personal challenges are hidden in plain sight, thus the exhibit’s title. These are new images of hunger and the people it affects in our city right now, and their experiences reflect an unsettling new economic norm that should be examined and addressed.

Please describe, briefly, what your process is like for creating your work?

I’m a documentary photographer, working on long form projects that seek to illuminate social justice issues. I worked on this project for three years, and visited 40 food pantries in all five boroughs. I approached hundreds of people over the course of the project, asking them to allow me to go home with them to see how a pantry bag made a difference to their family. Almost everyone refused. There’s shame attached to standing in a food line and most people don’t want to talk about it. It makes sense, but then there were those who wanted to tell their stories because they feel they are doing their level best and their economic reality is crushing. They want to be understood, and they’d like to see things change for the better. After meeting them at a pantry, I would spend a day or so at their home, sometimes visiting several times. Lining up for food can be dehumanizing – you’re both on display and socially invisible, but at home, you’re like everyone else. A visitor to the exhibit might see something in a home that reminds her of her own life – a plate, a stack of bills on the dining room table, a loving gesture that suggests a shared experience. I wanted the photographs to offer points of connection between the people on the lines and the people who walk past them, unaware. Awareness is critical to change.

What’s been a highlight of your work or a particular event or happenstance that has kept you motivated to continue doing it?

The Brooklyn Historical Society exhibit! What an extraordinary opportunity! First, because the staff is so smart and creative, and offered strong and clear support for the work. Then, the community events connected to the show were powerful – lectures and panels that illuminated the issues of poverty and hunger, and fostered crucial discussions in this history-making election year. School groups from grade school to the university level came to the exhibit. And the press, attracted to BHS for its intelligent and trustworthy expressions of history, was so responsive to this venue. I never anticipated such a list of coverage, and am so pleased that these stories could bring attention to the experiences and needs of the working poor. I still have requests to talk to groups about the exhibit – and it closed in November. Finally, the building itself is beautiful and infused with the dignity of our history. It was particularly meaningful to have hunger recognized in this place as a part of the American experience. Personally, I’ve been motivated by the stories I hear as a result of the exhibit. When I mention the project, people will sometimes open up about their own experiences with poverty – decorated veterans, shop owners, graduate students. I believe that the more we acknowledge that poverty is possible for so many of us, the more the stigma will be reduced. When people speak out, things start to change, and we are at a remarkable moment where people are demanding to be heard.

For our professional GANYC tour guide members, what things about your work might we share with the thousands of visitors to NYC we meet every year?

Documentary photography is worth supporting. To be done right, it takes patience and time, and in the Instagram/Snapchat world it seems like everything can be done fast and easy. Thoughtful photography still makes an impact, and it’s important to train the next generation. Photographs start conversations, and conversations lead to change.

Favorite tour you've taken in NYC, or if you haven't taken a tour, where in NYC would you next like to have a tour (preferably led by one of our GANYC members)?

As a local, I have to confess that most of my NY tours have been self-guided. After looking at your list, though, I think I’ve been missing out. My two must-do guided tours – The Amazing "Metrocard" History tour of the New York City Subway System and The "International Express" subway tour of Multi-ethnic Queens. I think transportation systems are a great way to look at urban history, and in this case, I know there will be amazing food, too! I may have to think about some of the others, too, and they’re great gift ideas.  

What is your favorite place in NYC and why?

The Met. I love art and culture, and see as much of it as I can. The Met is endlessly satisfying to me. Each time, something stops me in my tracks, for sheer beauty, or because it raises some aspect of the human experience that I had never considered before. It’s a safe space for human thought and expression. It reminds me of what we have to be grateful for as a species and what we have to lose if we don’t safeguard our collective treasures - physical, intellectual and spiritual.  

If you could be any one of the five NYC boroughs or a particular store/restaurant in NYC, what would you be and why?

Brooklyn! I was born here, and I’m loving the borough’s renaissance. Art, civilization, food, and water, water everywhere – so cool. I wonder if we’re doing the best we can to preserve the culture as we power ahead, and I think that tours are a wonderful way to spread the word about the value of preserving the best of the past.