Hello, neighbor

Lora Brueck captures the charm of Elm Park

by Leon Nigrosh

ELM PARK: ONE WORCESTER NEIGHBORHOOD, PHOTOGRAPHS BY LORA BRUECK At the Gordon Library, WPI, 100 Institute Road, Worcester through June 30.

What started out as a simple before-and-after story blossomed into a full-scale photographic documentary, enhanced with an oral history as told by homeowners -- most of whom have lived in the Elm Park area for more than 40 years. Inspired by a series of small grants for minor repairs and home maintenance awarded to residents by the private, non-profit Worcester Community Housing Resources, this exhibit presents a glimpse into a neighborhood through Gordon Library gallery director Lora Brueck's remarkable photographs, and through the people who still call Elm Park home.

Aside from the exhibit's human-interest aspect, another engaging facet is the new direction Brueck has taken her photography. Known for her soft-focus, hand-tinted still lifes and interiors, she, for the first time, produced images of real people. "I was petrified, technically, I had to work with low-light conditions and unfamiliar surroundings." Many of the interviewees, Brueck learned, are Greek and speak little English. So with the help of an interpreter, Brueck visited 10 people, and she listened as they told stories of what it has been like to live near Elm Park, one of the city's most popular recreational spots.

The speakers relaxed as they told their stories, giving Brueck an opportunity to take many informal pictures of them in their comfortable nests. Victoria Stefos has lived in her Elm Street house for 52 years, and was 20 when she came to Worcester from Greece. She and her husband opened a restaurant and raised two children, a son and a daughter, who remain in town -- Stefos's son owns the house next door, while her daughter has her chiropractor's practice in the house next to his. Brueck has taken snippets of Stefos's comments regarding neighbors, the church, jobs, and the park, and placed them and her candid portraits within the same frames. In one image, Stefos sits elegantly at the end of a long couch, over which hangs an oil painting of Venice.

Ninety-four-year-old Stella Haidas had her son Christos talk with Brueck and the interpreter. Though she didn't want to leave Greece in 1944, today "My mother keeps saying, `God bless America,'" relates Christos, who is pictured in the homey clutter of his mother's living room, his grandson balanced on his knee. An interesting portrait study in itself, but if you look closely you can see in the mirror the workmen provided by WCHR installing new windows.

Living in one of the few single-family homes in the neighborhood, Gertrude Kelly recalls the kids playing in the streets and the gardens and the flowers -- but that was before the redevelopment projects of the 1960s, which promised much but delivered only a blank brick high-rise. Says Kelly, "It's a good place for the elderly to live, but it took a lot away -- all the sunshine." In one telling photograph, Kelly is seen peeking around the corner of her bungalow, with the Elm Park Towers dwarfing both Kelly and her home.

Included with the intimate interview panels are a number of unframed, untitled photographs of Elm Park and nearby streets. To get a feel for the area, Brueck spent nearly four months walking around in the early mornings, shooting hundreds of pictures. These sharp-focus photos draw our attention in particular, because, unlike the interview pictures, these streets, houses, walls, and plantings are subtle artistic studies in angles and light -- and are completely devoid of people. One picture includes a tiny, handmade wooden replica of a church perched atop a pole in someone's front yard. Another shows a vine-covered wall glowing in the early-morning sun.

Tying the exhibit together are four large-format architectural photographs of the interiors and exteriors of Saint Spyridon Cathedral and the Park Congregational Church. These two buildings, crystal clear in Brueck's sparkling photographs, represent more than just particular religious practices. According to the residents, they continue to be central to the heart and soul of the Elm Park neighborhood.

The gallery is open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call 831-5000.