14. Herkimer Street Stoop Interview, 2022 at Potomac Playground

Herkimer Street Stoop Interview. Photo by Hidemi Takagi.

Herkimer Street Stoop Interview is an ongoing community-based photography and oral history project produced by Brooklyn-based photographer Hidemi Takagi. Having moved to New York City in 1997, Takagi has worked with immigrant and minority communities ever since. Being an immigrant herself, she is interested in the intersection between immigrant history and local community culture. Takagi also draws influence from her childhood growing up in Japan, reflecting the adoration she felt for American pop culture of the 1950s and 1960s in her work’s vibrant and hyper-saturated color scheme. 

On display through April 3, 2022, the art project features portraits and interviews with long-term residents of Bedford-Stuyvesant. Conversation topics range from the residents’ childhood to recent changes to their neighborhood, with the audio accessible through a QR Code on the vinyl banner. Herkimer Street Stoop Interview serves as a tribute to Bed-Stuy while also ensuring the neighborhood’s stories can be passed down to the next generation.