![“We roam around this spontaneous block sticking together as brothers. Yet we are cousins.”](https://cdn.viewing.nyc/assets/media/4c668138876eb31dd22d6619db6cb1ce/elements/756adf22e95d265c5befb8e87cffea36/xl/41b66c63-3dca-4957-abbd-050174c0b4a3_2x.jpg)
![“My neighbors.”](https://cdn.viewing.nyc/assets/media/5b7ade0e9b4a86f61ad4ede975759da6/elements/6958c71579ca501ffa24cd98f5545ce9/xl/ed013ff7-70ff-4e00-b9c5-c9cd2df0fd4e_2x.jpg)
![From the book, Project Lives.](https://cdn.viewing.nyc/assets/media/5a4d57557afcbe9decd769b948c65a82/elements/8a35506ea731186036418c5af002939f/xl/69f05f9f-1a68-4dcb-99c2-95667dca7824_2x.jpg)
![“The neighborhood I am in is so surprising. Anything can happen, good or bad. The sun rises on our faces.”](https://cdn.viewing.nyc/assets/media/0e29827f58bb4ae9cb698bb3c898fda7/elements/bf459f27427e102fb96e41d626d090d6/xl/514024b3-394f-4552-9594-c3def4bfa1bc_2x.jpg)
![“I love how when I’m in the school, hallways are so quiet when I walk through it’s just great because you can just hear yourself think about how you are going to plan once you get in class. Just stay focused on what’s around you.”](https://cdn.viewing.nyc/assets/media/93fc1dbe96cfe10ed1e2e056490075eb/elements/c612ba25ffb7dffe6334abfbe553eb70/xl/e97121a6-c9c3-48c9-9c09-96d0d2da4fbd_2x.jpg)
![“Cloud formations. Impending rain.”](https://cdn.viewing.nyc/assets/media/74e5bdcb30cab0dbbc0cf4c6cfe6dc92/elements/e493b76a0a6a61d481814e197d537231/xl/be393180-ceac-439d-80c5-a06e9567e7ec_2x.jpg)
![“On Christmas I photograph my cat and I dance with my cat.”](https://cdn.viewing.nyc/assets/media/c5c2f043ebdb9bc017d34ebd20af8616/elements/0e3ea70aa1fe3b12fd58de961bec00a6/xl/cc05243d-3524-4fdc-afeb-18e2ed0be1da_2x.jpg)
![“My husband and I before we were married. He is 20 and I am 16.”](https://cdn.viewing.nyc/assets/media/dad49767cd28e78d466769a28657a17a/elements/f76c57c26c484c22c6bb495eb9544ac5/xl/8f5db99e-8780-48e4-a474-9318f2bbc694_2x.jpg)
![“I like living here because I get my grandma to cook for me.”](https://cdn.viewing.nyc/assets/media/380972970b557f3b62ec0713a0ad5061/elements/a9511506c8e6ae7b46bceb83ab5b087e/xl/0240896c-c277-4160-bbe5-a6bae6375bdb_2x.jpg)
![“Remember when the ball field was a dust bowl? Now paved, kids love to play basketball.”](https://cdn.viewing.nyc/assets/media/47334c36d243ec8fdfa33b5b2197676e/elements/7a6680a3bb310866b008c1b0ac21c4a0/xl/806e407e-9295-4df7-821a-8f4a846c5c79_2x.jpg)
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The buildings and residents of New York City's 334 housing projects are often unfairly portrayed in the media with a focus on crime, poverty or other negative aspect.
To help change this narrative, authors George Carrano, Chelsea Davis and Jonathan Fisher, created the Project Lives photo book which reveals much more about what it's like to live in the projects, directly from the people who live there.
Project Lives takes you on a remarkable journey into a world turned inside out, where the camera’s subject becomes the storyteller. Participatory photography—of which this collection marks one of the largest efforts anywhere—approaches a new visual medium, a universal language speaking across borders and cultures.
Participatory photography in this project means that the authors gave cameras to residents of a few housing projects and had them take pictures of anything they wanted, with little direction on subject matter.
By using their single-use film cameras as a window into the heart of the projects and a creative instrument of hope, the courageous souls who set out on a daunting mission—to change how their neighbors, friends, relations, and very lives are viewed by America—may accomplish more than helping preserve their homes.
Project Lives is available for purchase on Amazon.
via Slate
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