Kensington Blues is a portrait photography project of the Philadelphia residents who are struggling to survive their addiction along Kensington Avenue in North Philadelphia, PA.

During the nineteenth century, Kensington was a strong working class neighborhood, a national leader of the textile industry and home to a diverse population of immigrants. Industrial restructuring of the mid 20th century lead to a sharp economic decline resulting in high unemployment and a significant population loss.

When the jobs dried up, the drugs flooded in.

Today, Kensington Avenue is infamous for open-air drug use, prostitution and extreme poverty. In 2020, there were 1,214 drug overdose deaths in Philadelphia. Nationwide, overdose deaths were up 30% from the previous year at approximately 93,331.

With the roaring El train overhead, Kensington Avenue and those who live beneath the tracks are caught in a state of perpetual hustle. Working with a 4×5 film camera, a journal and an audio recorder, I embrace a deliberately slow and methodical process in order to get to know the people I photograph on a deeper, personal level.  I am fascinated by how people survive some of the harshest living conditions imaginable in the U.S.. I hope that the photographs and stories I’ve made over the years offer a humanizing perspective of addiction and challenge the negative stereotypes and stigmas that do so much harm. 

To purchase Kensington Blues the book, click here.

To hear the voices of those pictured, visit kensingtonblues.com.