Finca Del Sur, a yaer old garden in the South Bronx, was created on an empty plot of land bordered by a high way exit ramp and a commuter train line.
Volunteers grew, corn, cabbage, eggplant, apples, peppers, etc. In 2011, La Finca Del Sur (The point of the south) will be the location for a newly created farm school © Nina Berman / NOOR.
Once one of the most famous American ghettos, South Bronx is today one of the poorest boroughs of New York, despite the changes from the burnt out buildings, empty fields full of gravel and gangster shootings of the 70’s.
Over the years, motivated residents who saw opportunities where others only saw ruins, began cleaning the abandoned sites and slowly but surely created local gardens, peaceful locations where families could nourish their families and those of their neighbors.
Over 100 community gardens were created in these unlikely places – next to railroad tracks, under highways, in between high rises. The fact alone that they manage to survive in these urban zones where real estate is king provides witness to the power of these green spaces and the willpower and talent of their gardeners.
The pictures in this garden series redefine the possibility of another way of urban life in a neighborhood like the South Bronx, despite its tragically famous history and less than glamorous reputation, presenting it as a place of natural survival, where tranquility brings promise. This project is a new start for the photographer Nina Berman, better known for her viewpoints on the war and the military. She began this series to “try to see New York differently, through locations free of competition or agitation”. This series quickly evolved towards a greater focus on the environment in general and on preservation.
“Bronx Gardens” is displayed as a unique series and as part of a project develop in collaboration with NOOR pictures around the consequences of and solutions to global warming.
It is the first time it has been presented in New York.
A limited series will be on sale.
The exhibition will be open June 2 through August 16, 2012.
614 Courtlandt Avenue and 151st Street
Bronx, New York 10451
For more information, please visit here and here.
