Matthew Nunes
Photography Major + Video Track

In the documentary film titled “Overlook Park Drive”, It explores a community's living situation, and their interaction with the environment they live in. The subject matter of the film are the individuals living on a private street association in Cleveland named Overlook Park Drive. Over the past year the shoreline at the end of the street has been ravaged by erosion which demanded drastic actions to be taken. Unfortunately, the renovations were not cheap. This issue demanded unity on the street or the shoreline would fall into Lake Erie. 

            The film offers a commentary on society through the microcosm of this community. Individuals discuss various points in the streets history, such as their experience moving into the neighborhood during “white flight”. “White flight” occurred during the 1970’s in Cleveland due to the desegregation of the public schools. Many white families moved away so their children could attend private schools or tried fighting the decision through legal tactics. The residents of OPD embrace the diverse cultures in the neighbourhood, and continue on traditions past down in some cases three generations. 

            Neighbours on the street feel deeply connected to the street due to the fact that this place holds a variety of memories and experiences. longing for the past, neighbours discuss their experiences of projector nights, cookouts, and lounging on the now eroded beach. These domestic rituals, which are performed across the country are relatable and help viewers to connect to what this community is going through. 

            Numerous markers still reside around the street indicating moments of history. Underneath numerous houses holds appliances such as showers, and toilets that are arranged like outhouses in order to accommodate for kids covered in sand from the lake. Street signs from the 1950’s now almost fully engulfed in trees depict kids in shorts and a cap, while nowadays signs depict a unisex silhouette of a person. Surrounding the opening into the tree there is evidence of an individual can catch a glimpse of the sign are hack marks from a hatchet. This was an attempt to prevent the sign from completely being engulfed by the tree. I believe these actions reveal our difficulty with letting go of the past, and glorifying times that had their fair share of troubles. 

            When depicting the individuals involved with the construction I monumentalize them by dropping the camera down to a lower angle. By placing subjects in the bottom of the frame surrounded by water, it makes the viewer feel trapped, and claustrophobic. Other blue collar workers are depicted through the garbage pickup, and the tree trimming which helps demonstrate what is and is not paid for by the street. The film treats many elements on the fractured shoreline as a metaphor for ideas such as instability, and nostalgia. 

            This pastoral landscape shows mankind's altering of the landscape to fit their needs. Since the construction of the original shoreline in 1973 humans have been wrestling with the environment. Substituting the rusting concrete, giant limestone boulders have been locked in place to ensure that a new generation can grow in this community.