Wow Rockaway: Stories to Remember
I'm a As I walked the beaches and neighborhoods of Rockaway Beach in the days after Hurricane Sandy I was flooded with new images of familiar places. I was shocked by the devastation of shattered homes, inspired and humbled by the spirit of community and service, awed by the beauty of sea and sky, and enveloped in the love and gratitude of family and friends.
The night of the storm, my partner Jane and I were on the phone with her mother Nana as the tidal storm surge was filling her basement. We pleaded earlier in the week for the family to evacuate. "No." We told them they would lose their cars to the flooding... please at least, move them to higher ground. "No, people did that in Hurricane Irene and their cars where vandalized.” Nana was screaming and throwing rosaries into the rising water, the power went out, and then that was the last time we heard her voice for a week.
In my search for any information coming out of the Rockaways, I relied on Facebook and Twitter for updates and images. Our friend, Joan called from Brooklyn. She was cooking large vats of soup and making sandwiches in a field tent outside a restaurant with other volunteers. I asked if I could give her Nana’s address so they could bring food out to the neighborhood. I started texting from the comfort of my home in Sugarloaf to arrange drop off points
in Rockaway Beach.
The first wave of Key West relief to the region was loaded into a friend’s SUV headed north; in addition to supplies, she had a sleeping bag and a working vehicle. Jane’s family did not have heat, electricity or hot water. We gave her Jane’s family’s address, as we quickly made our decision to drive ourselves to Rockaway to help our family.
We dropped off donations. I took photos. We picked up soup and sandwiches from Hurricane Sandy Relief Kitchen. I took photos. We dropped meals off. I took photos. Cleaned out basements, killed mold. I took photos. Filled up car again and again with food and supplies. I took photos. Helped cook an outdoor community Thanksgiving dinner.
I took photos.I went on long walks. Took more photos. It was important to document what was happening here. I knew that those dealing with loss and struggling with limited resources would not have the time or energy to record it.
On my journey I met, shared with, and photographed NYU graduate film students, as well as Time Life photographers. I connected with Wyatt Gallery, a photographer who's work of Rockaway I had been following in the first days after Hurricane Sandy. Wyatt would become my mentor and life coach for this project. I sat next to Klaus Biesenbach of MoMa at an impromptu Thanksgiving concert held in a relief tent. I handed my idol Patti Smith a bottle of water as she performed as a healing gift for her new neighbors in Rockaway. I was moving in a new atmosphere.
Victoria Barber
Artist
Our vehicle was filled with donations from neighbors and friends. Unfortunately we already knew to well, thanks to Hurricane Wilma in 2005, what would be needed as folks began the overwhelming task of clean up, mold removal and rebuilding.
The Sugarloaf Women's Village was the first to fill our vehicle with power tools, push brooms, crowbars, work gloves, face masks, cleaning solutions and disinfectants. Their only request was that their donation go to an Occupy Sandy Relief Hub.
We arrived in Rockaway 18 days after the storm. Wow.
These photos tell that story.
Besides our donations and supplies, I had my cameras. I always have a camera even if it’s my iPhone. Totally approved of by photographer Annie Leibowitz....”My favorite camera is the one I have with me". I take photos, it's just what I do. It is my diary, my mediation, my creative escape. It helps appease my endless curiosity.
VICTORIA BARBER
PHOTOGRAPHER