![Atop Empire State- in construction; Chrysler Bldg & [Daily] News in middle foreground. (1931)](../../../wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Atop-Empire-State-in-construction-Chrysler-Bldg-Daily-News-in-middle-foreground.-1931--199x123.jpg "Balancing on the Empire State, 1920s")
‘In early 2024, I photographed the interiors of the decaying buildings on the un-restored south side of Ellis Island. These buildings served prosaic and often sad purposes: they were the wards and medical facilities. They had a haunting beauty, with their subtle, almost monochromatic colors: greens and rust, old brick and peeling plaster. Ellis Island also had personal significance for me: two of my grandparents passed through the immigrant processing center when they came from Europe in the early years of the 20th century.’
- Paul Margolis
vito corleone was in a room like this at the beginning of godfather II.
I wonder how many of my ancestors knew these rooms?
Interesting. Although I took a tour several years later (2010), it appears not much has changed.
Nice work. The distinctive palette—especially the barely-there color—is mysterious and intriguing, much like the place itself.
I photographed there during the restoration as a participant in The Ellis Island Project: Documentation/Representation. Some of the images from that project are here.