Living Apart: George Etheredge

Year: 2019
Format: Saddle-stitched, 7 plates on Mohawk Superfine
Size: 6.125 x 8.375 inches
Pages: 16 

Published in collaboration with George Etheredge and ROMAN NVMERALS.

Photographs initially commissioned by ProPublica.

Etheredge is an American photographer based in Brooklyn. georgeetheredge.com

Living Apart investigates a housing program that was intended to bring independence to New York City’s mentally ill. Residents were transferred out of assisted-living centers and into their own subsidized apartments under a landmark settlement. The series helps to visualize ways the program failed people that it intended to help, including both recipients and workers of the program.

The design treatment was meant to have impact, aligning with the serious nature of the subject matter. Bureau Grotesque was used to assist in setting this tone. The condensed weight is bold in nature and has a quality that appears very machined and orderly at first, but on closer examination has more humanistic qualities or so-called flaws, much like the housing program. The yellow and black cover helps the object to stand out and almost gives the idea of caution tape. In this situation however, the viewer is able to examine what normally happens behind closed doors.