Originally build in the 1830s, this jail in Newark, NJ served as the county’s primary jail until around 1970 when a new jail was opened. This jail once housed as many as 300 prisoners. The administration house is no longer standing, but the jailing building remains. The walls/cells are falling apart, and the stairs are barely supportive. The jail cells are currently homes for several homeless people. Despite being empty of criminals, the building is still a dangerous place to be.
Ujimaa Garden
I was driving home from Home Depot in Newark and I was taking side streets to avoid traffic. When I got to the corner of Morris and 14th Ave, I saw something in the corner of my eye. I glanced over and saw a garden of flowers and a painted wall that looked like a classroom blackboard. At the top it had “Before I Die I Want To:” painted on it. The man behind me honked his horn, because, I was holding up traffic at the stop sign, so I proceeded. As soon as I got through the intersection though, my mind just kept telling me to stop for a better look.
There was a sign there that said "The Ujimaa Garden” As I was walking around taking pictures of the area, I heard a man yell out in the distance, but I couldn't make out what the man was saying. I just assumed he was calling someone across the street or something... A minute or two later an older woman pulled up and started asking me who I was. I told her who I was and handed her my card. I said was driving by and noticed the garden. She started telling me some back story of the garden and in the middle of her doing so, a man walked up and asked if everything was ok? The woman introduced me to the man and said all was well. She told me that man was sort of one of their local self-appointed security. It was the same man who yelled out earlier.
The woman told me that her daughter was the organizer of the garden. The woman gave her daughter: Nicole Singletary a call and a few minutes later she pulled up. She gave me a lot of information about what was done, why it was done, and what's still to come. The area was originally overgrown and filled with junked cars, but in October 2012, children and adults came together and along with some donations from a few local business, they transformed it into the garden you see in the pictures.
The garden has flower beds made with painted tires, benches with phrases like "Pay It Forward" written on them, and a painted brick wall made to resemble a blackboard. At the top of the blackboard it says "Before I Die I Want To:" painted on it. Neighborhood kids know where there's hidden chalk in the garden and they can write on the wall anytime they'd like to. When it rains, the chalk washes away, and they can write more. Now this part of the garden story really reaches out and touches you…
I asked Nicole what kind of things people normally write on the wall? She said it varies. A man once wrote he wanted to get his GED, but one of the very first things written on the wall was by a little girl who wrote that she wanted to rid her neighborhood of addiction.
Nicole told me that plans for the garden will include a section for growing fruits and vegetables. The soil has already been tested and they can apparently grow almost anything they want to there. The food will be distributed amongst the community.
The word "Ujimaa" is KiSwahili for collective work and responsibility. While I was there I couldn't help but feel this is one of those things that make a difference. The community has really put some of their hearts into this garden and it shows. They're very protective of what they've made too. That protection doesn't stop on the citizen level either. Newark Police Dept. is protective of it too. While I was speaking with Nicole there were at least a handful of people that showed up to say hi, but you could really tell they were more interested in who the stranger was. It didn’t stop there though, a Newark police car posted them selves next to us too. Nicole actually walked over to them to let them know everything was alright.
UPDATE to Homesick post
My last entry involved a man I considered to be musical artist. He allowed me to photograph him and after that, I spent almost a month looking for him again. It wasn’t because I wanted to hear him play again although, that would’ve been an extra bonus. No, because I felt so inspired and emotionally moved by him, I felt compelled repay him for the experience.
I spent at least once a week for just about a month trying to find this guy again. Every time I went to the city I brought a gift for him in my backpack. Once or twice I’d be in the same area and I’d start to hear the music and become excited only to find out it was coming from someone’s little speaker they were playing during their morning live forever exercises.
ONE DAY THOUGH!!! I head the sound and there was no way this was not a live performance. I started walking in a brisker pace and lo and behold... I FOUND HIM!!! He remembered me, we shook hands and I gave him his gift. He was very happy to receive it.
10,000 Deaths
Some of you may think that the term “Urban Exploration” means to just explore around urban areas. In the literal sense you’d be right, but the term is actually applied a little differently. Urban exploration is the act of exploring man-made structures. These structures are most commonly either abandoned or aren't normally seen. On occasion I've gone “UE,” because I’m interested in the structure itself, what used to take place there, but usually I’m just trying to find a good picture.
Urban exploration can be a very dangerous hobby. Places are sometimes not easily accessible, because it’s either very remote, structurally unsound, or just flat out off limits. I don’t ever recommend trespassing, but this hobby often involves it. If you do it enough, chances are you’re going to get caught.
There’s a place not very far from me called “Overbook Insane Asylum.” It was built in 1895 and started off with just a couple of buildings, but it quickly became over populated, so the facility expanded. It wasn't long before the buildings covered 120 acres. The facility even had its own power plant, fire house, theater, and the patients were even fed with food from their own little farm. The farm had animals and they produced their own dairy products as well.
The asylum constantly housed thousands of “Inmates,” until newer and more modern treatments became available. Since around 1975 the numbers started to decline to only a few hundred and even less when its official close occurred in 2007.
After reading up on the facility, I started to identify it as a place you’d see in horror movies. Sub-standard care, abuse, and even negligent deaths were reported to have happened. It’s estimated that 10,000 people died there. In the winter of 1917 the facility suffered boiler complications that resulted in 24 patients freezing to death in 20 days. There is absolutely no way this would be allowed to happen in a hospital or prison today.
The facility has been featured in several paranormal TV shows, Weird NJ, and The movie “Choke” (supposedly crew and actors reported seeing ghosts there.)
Today, this facility is both structurally unsound and off limits. Although people were still there in 2007, most of the other buildings were long abandoned. Police patrol the grounds frequently and the entry points are constantly being boarded and bolted shut.
It’s easy to get lost in there, because so much looks the same. All the walls have pealed paint and plant life even grows inside. Exam rooms have needles and medication just lying around, a few beds are still made, and closets still have old clothes in them. It looks like people just suddenly left one day. The underground tunnels are probably the most dangerous place to be though. The ceiling is low, pipes hang down, there’s asbestos, and you can’t see anything without a flashlight. I remember opening a door and when I took a step I felt my feet hit something. I looked down with my flashlight and just saw legs. My heart skipped a beat for a moment until I realized it was a rescue Annie doll. Fittingly after that, I found the morgue.
Creepy Place!
Homesick
I wasn't seeing much at first this morning, but when I started walking under the FDR I started to hear music. It wasn't music you could just turn your radio on and listen to. It was coming from an old Chinese man playing an erhu. I've heard the instrument plenty of times in movies, but never in person. I've seen a lot of people play instruments, but I never felt the emotions I did while watching this man play his music. Listening to him play made me miss China which is odd, because I’ve never been to China.
This gentleman rides his bike from where ever he lives to play for all the people doing their morning exercises (which are mostly Chinese). To keep his instrument protected, he’s attached two trash bins to his bike. One serves as the base and the other is the top cover. I watched him for about five or so minutes before I realized I came out to take pictures.
I had a brief conversation with the man. He doesn’t do it for money, nobody asked him to play, he simply does it because he wants to. It’s very evident when you watch and hear him play that he’s a very passionate musician. I just met this man and had immediate respect for him. Admittedly, I may have even been a little fanboyish too.
/5/2013 7am. Old man playing erhu in front of the east river
Because you never know.
I almost always keep a camera in my car. On this night while driving to the gym I came across a structure fire. Luckily, I had a SONY NEX 3 in my trunk! It's a little challenging trying to photograph something like this freehand with the settings I had to use. This camera isn't known for its high ISO performance, so I had to keep the aperture and shutter speed at the bare minimum. This is one of the rare occasions I'd motor drive, because some of the pictures I took had shutter speeds as low as 1/5th with a lens that was far below professional grade.
arrison's bravest fighting a structure on 2/25/2013 8:30 pm.
lames burn through the roof of an unfortunate family's home 2/25/2013 8:30 pm.
Firefighter operating controls of an old pumper firetruck 2/25/2013
New York City
Street photography has become one of my favorite genres of photography. In a city like New York it can be very challenging, because the scenery and pace can and usually does change from block to block.
Below is a picture of an occupy wall street protester. At least that’s what the people there are still calling themselves. In my opinion they just seem like homeless people at this point, but I’m not judging.
Photo of an occupy Wall St. protester 7/23/2012 in the early morning on Broadway in front of Trinity Church.
ISO-200 F-4 @ 1/30 sec