House as Symbol of Self, Clair Cooper reading

Coopers article on Jungarian psychologies of home showed us how we become comfrtable with our homes, making them our own by projecting “something of ourseles onto its physical fabric”.  I find this personalization of home quite interesting, especially in New York City’s apartment lifestyle.  I always had a fascination with the mass identity of large city life and the paradoxical way that though living in such small, identical apartments New Yorkers still can have such a strong sense of personal identity.  I am sort of in the midst of my own little photography project exploring this theme in the neighborhood of Sunset Park, Brooklyn.  I walked down streets at began taking pictures of peoples doorways, and found when looked at together you can begin to see little ways in that people make the space their own.  Its interesting to see some of the smaller details like stickers, lamps, signs, and decor contrasted with larger installments like newer railings, different paint, larger windows, more elaborate doors, and different variations of steel and brass fixtures.

Here is a little example.

“man was a symbol-making animal long before he was a toolmaker”

These photos differ slightly from her reading where she believes “the high-rise apartment building is rejected by most Americans as a family home because, I would suggest, it gives one no territory on the ground, violates the archaic image of what a house is, and is percieved unconsciously as a threat to ones self-image as a seperate and unique personality”.  I would argue something differently with these pictures.  While not high rise apartment buildings, they are 3 and sometimes 3 family apartment buildings that represent different family values then the normal “archetype” American house.  Many of these apartments are owned by Chinese families or landlords, so that the front door is used by multiple families.  This means that sometimes these front steps represent more of a community or a culture then they do an American ideal.  Other of these apartments are owned by white or other minorities, and when they are it is almost clearly shown.  An American flag delineates a white family in one of my photos not shown.  The photos also make me think about how we cannot see inside of them, not very many picture windows here, and perhaps how the different manifestations of culture show a threatened-proud duplexity in relation to the outside world.

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