Pete,

In response to your idea that perhaps you were giving Maspeth a bad rep in your photographs...

Robert Coles writes the introduction in Thomas Roma's Found in Brooklyn book, and at the end of this introduction, he says something in relation to Roma's book, which I think really applies to your photographs of Maspeth.

He says that the photographer "...walks, stalks his hometown, keeps us resolutely outside those homes, garages, stores, schools; and yet, so doing, brings us up close indeed: we are given what he 'found,' the soul of a place as it is, and as it gets lived daily."

So in this way, I think you're allowing your audience to explore the neighborhood, stripped of its glamour, in its natural state. When a person walks around his neighborhood, he notices all of the so-called "behind the scenes" details, rather than the facade that it may be trying to put up, and becomes almost immune to all of the "impressive" aspects of the area because it's old to his eyes. So your photos make me feel like it's a neighborhood I live in and am a part of, and am definitely not visiting, which I think is part of the point.

I hope you understand what I'm saying. In my opinion, you're photographically representing Maspeth in a good way.

-Lisa