NERSESSOVA, IRINA. Tapestry of Space: Domestic Architecture and Underground Communities in Margaret Morton’s Photography of a Forgotten New York. disClosure, 10556133, 2014, Issue 23. Web.

In this paper Irina Nersessova reflects on the book “The Tunnel: The Underground Homeless of New York City” by Margaret Morton, which contained a collection of photos and stories about some of the homeless that were found in New York. Additionally, she discusses how part of our identity as human beings are tied to our homes and how the homeless in Morton’s book have become more intimately connected with their homes because they’ve literally built them through their own creative input using discarded materials. Furthermore, she argues that because the homeless are in a sense separated from normal society, they haven’t been influenced by consumerist media, leaving them the room needed to self-reflect and find themselves.

I believe this paper offers an interesting perspective on homelessness. Typically, the homeless are seen as “homeless” and disadvantaged. First, according to Nersessova, they’re not homeless; they just do not live in conventional homes. Second, they’re not wholly disadvantaged compared to normal society. What I mean by that is Nersessova opened my eyes up to the idea that the homeless are not influenced by the media in the same way normal society is. In normal society people are suffused with images, video, and audio of what should be bought, worn, or how one should think, stifling personal development and enlightenment. The homeless are not explicitly impacted by this media; however, they may be implicitly impacted by the actions of a society that is.