Take Alter is a personal archive of images, taken over a period of seven years in the lobby of an apartment building in New York City. An architectural altar turned free pile, the enclave has become an informal drop zone for neighbors to part with unwanted items and pick up others’ past possessions. She’s left things and she’s taken things, but primarily documents with quick portraits as she passes by to leave or return home, continually accumulating her collection. 

The altar is sometimes empty or a dumping ground for litter, but if you’re lucky, it’s a site of communal exchange – a place of potential for someone’s discards to find new purpose with an undetermined neighbor. These still lifes capture the momentary state of flux between being trash and treasure. Portrait-taking becomes an act of quiet stewardship: an altar-keeper minding the space, with light interventions for added curb appeal.

Not privy to who gave and who got, each item is a peek into private lives behind closed doors. Neighbors trade relics of abandoned hobbies, excess essentials expiring, the casualties of changing tastes, things grown out of or broken, and mementos from a past that’s ready to be rid of—a rolling, intimate, and anonymous study of those we share space with.

Written with Mascot Studio for an exhibition in 2024 at Bibeau Krueger