St. Paul

October 04, 2008

Alec Soth meets Denise, finally in a room of her own.

Over the last few weeks, I've been working on a project with a non-profit organization called CommonBond.

CommonBond is the largest developer and provider of affordable homes with services in the Upper Midwest. On today’s shoot, I photographed Denise, a 53-year-old woman living in West St. Paul. After suffering a series of strokes, Denise was forced to move into a nursing home in Chicago.

“I had to share a bathroom with five other people, it was miserable,” she told me. “After moving to CommonBond two years ago, I finally found some peace and quiet. I have a great view. I love to watch the geese.”

As an African-American woman from Chicago, I assumed that Denise would feel a special connection to Barack Obama. But the more we talked, the less important his role seemed in her decision. Denise's concerns were focused on the bare necessities.
“Food is getting too expensive,” she said. “Why doesn’t anyone talk about that?”