Cambridge Collection

The Roxbury street art and weathered political posters that I photographed in Cambridge and Roxbury came from an environment of social protest that I recognized. I was an outsider, an observer, and in this formative period what I saw in these gritty urban environments seemed intriguing, vital, vibrant even as it arose from a sense of abandonment and neglect. This was much more gripping than Harvard

Political posters also played a role, particularly in my décollageseries (created by the tearing away of original images) taken on medium-format film for texture and detail. The posters reflect political agitation of radical factions, marginal Marxist groups, in other words the ferment of the post-Vietnam period. For the most part they were stapled to the rusty iron fire doors of the venerable Harvard Square Theater, which, I recently learned, has been empty for many years. In the harsh New England climate, these posters would weather and peal—or be torn—thus creating an urban palimpsest.