“North Philadelphia” is Traub’s new 124-page portrait of the people and properties in a struggling area where more than 40% of residents in three local ZIP codes live below the poverty line. From crumbling buildings to abandoned lots long overgrown by nature, Traub says he examined neighborhoods long troubled by destitution yet ripe with beauty and possibility.
“I want to show the complexity of the place. … It has a lot of hidden richness that maybe has been overlooked,” Traub said.
For example? Start with the ubiquitous churches, some recently converted from commercial buildings. Others, as he writes in the book’s essay, were “built in more prosperous times, such as the Church of the Advocate, which played an important role in the Civil Rights era.”
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“On one hand it is ignored and in decline, but it also is a place of tremendous possibility and great human resources — people who are marginalized but also have a tremendous amount to offer,” he said.
Daniel Traub is a photographer based in Brooklyn, New York. You can follow him on Facebook and Twitter. His new book, “North Philadelphia,” is available on Amazon.
