As you head east on 112 Ave, the road and sidewalk are covered from the fallen foliage with peeking patches of asphalt. Make a left, north onto 221 street, you’re met with the letters “JMJ,” fixed on top of a rusty gargantuan gate. I’ve been in the area, Queens Village, all my life and have never gone past the side gate entrance. For as all I know, this lot, which you can see through the gates – covers one or two acres of seclusion within Queens Village.
Queen of Peace Residence, a nursing home; shares the acred land with St. Anne’s Convent, or if you read the front gate entrance sign, Little Sisters of the Poor. I have never set foot in a convent, let alone past the front gate.
I hope to cohesively capture thiscommunity, in words and images, of the Sisterhood.
Most important,is to gain access. You must gain their trust and you must be able to make multiple visits to the nursing home –to get a real feeling for life there.
This sounds like a great idea because it’s certainly not a community everyone has access to. I think what you need to keep in mind is that in order to gain their trust you need a certain level of sensitivity to their situation.
The beginning of your description reminded me of Frances Hodges Burnett’s children’s classic “The Secret Garden.” It conjures up the mysterious element of what’s behind the gate, a secret world to be discovered. Keep that sense of discovery in the photos and lead us through the gate slowly in word and images and build up the surprise.
I can’t wait to see your ballerina dancers. I heard you went to the Nut Cracker dress rehearsals. I am sure your images are going to be great. Can’t wait to see them
Reached your site through Google. You already know I will be subscribing to your rss feed.
Hi Horace, I couldn’t gain access to the convent. Unfortunately, there were obvious criterion that didn’t allow me to get in. But you can take a look at my flickr account which I will be updating shortly, flickr.com/abraheme
Thank you all!