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Fire Escape Stories_1

Pigment inkjet print

12.25 x 16.25

Fire Escape Stories_2

Pigment inkjet print

12.25 x 16.25

Yu-Yu Chen

The fire escapes and aging buildings of the Lower East Side have always felt like quiet storytellers to me. There’s something profoundly human in the way they cling to old rhythms while the city rushes ahead. Some are still part of daily life—places to sit, pause, watch the street below—while others have become forgotten scaffolds, rusting into memory.

I live near the Lower East Side and find myself drawn there often. Wandering its streets has become part of my routine. Each visit revealing new textures, new traces of lives unfolding or long gone. I photograph these structures not just as architectural features, but as emotional landmarks. They are stages for both presence and absence, resilience and erosion.

To me, the Lower East Side is a living canvas—layered with street art, memories, and time. Through this series, I’m honoring the overlooked poetry of the built environment and the way it quietly holds space for change, memory, and everyday beauty.