Documentary Project

Their Corner Home

The City remains to ignore the obvious while Raul and Elvira live on in their corner home. I have been documenting the relationship of a couple with their home and my relationship with the expected and the unexpected and what’s being put in front of my camera has driven me to start creating a body of work engaging issues such as ignorance, greed, love and death. Raul and Elvira Ramirez are a sixty nine year old retired couple living in a residential home in Long Beach, California for over sixteen years. Raul and Elvira deal with the fears of cars crashing into their home on an everyday basis. The couples gang free neighborhood has created a passion for their home despite the fear of a car crashing into their dining room. Living on the corner of a busy intersection where illegal turns are made during peak traffic hours has created a perfect magnet for car crashes. The city of Long Beach has done nothing to compensate for the damage to the couples corner home neither have they made changes to the intersection. During an interview with Raul he said “a few accidents and one death have happened here”. The feeling of fear will not leave Raul and Elvira while they live with the consequences of what could happen to them and their corner home. 

By: Sean Fitzsimmons