Brett Harvey at 80 (Phoebe Taylor-Vuolo)

My grandmother Brett Harvey has lived in the same apartment on 8th avenue in Park Slope since 1963. Her apartment is rent controlled, allowing her to stay in a neighborhood with housing prices that skyrocketed long ago, and continue to rise. Sometimes I myself feel as though the neighborhood and New York City in general have changed, even since I was a kid growing up here, but I’m often shocked and humbled by the amount of change that she’s seen living in the city for all these years. Two years ago, I moved in with my grandmother, and it’s been an amazing experience getting closer to her, hearing her stories, and learning more about her all the time. Her apartment was always this kind of mystical, special place for me as a child, and now that I’ve come to live in it, I feel an even stronger connection, and I’m thankful to have gotten so much time with my grandmother, who turned 80 this month. It’s hard to say how long the apartment will stay in my family, but I’ve always found it interesting how intertwined it is with my grandmother’s identity, at least in my own image of her.

2 comments

  1. These are lovely and evocative photos bringing us a sense of this woman’s life. But still awaiting the introductory text. Also as revealing as the still life shots are, they can’t carry the whole story. We need to see more photos of Brett Harvey. Unlike some of the other photo essays, you’ve captured the emotional intensity; now we need to spend some time moving through her day.

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