Instagram page spotlight - @allthequeenshouses

While I try to be as diverse and all-encompassing of all the neighborhoods and stories of Queens on the Queenscapes Instagram page, I am always also looking for that IG page that is doing photographically something different and concentrated to one of the many layers of the Queens landscape. The gem of a page, @allthequeenshouses fits that bill perfectly.

But I cannot take credit for finding Rafael Herrin-Ferri’s Instagram page, @allthequeenshouses. For that I have to thank friend and architectural photographer Ines Leong who introduced us around a month ago. Rafael, an architect himself, has been conducting a photographic survey of the housing landscape in Queens since 2012.

From Multi-Family Open-Bay Facades in Queensboro Hill to the Detached Dormer Sliding Down Porch Roof Dwellings that occupy College Point, Rafael has covered a large part of Queens, to date over 5,000 photographs worth of Queens territory.

As quoted by the article written by Teresa Mathew for City Lab 01/24/18 –

“The title of the project refers to a line from the children’s story Humpty Dumpty: “All the king’s horses and all the king’s men / couldn’t put Humpty together again.” Herrin-Ferri sees the inability to return something to its original state as a blessing in disguise.”

Finally got the opportunity to meet Rafael last night in Sunnyside, his hometown the last 15 years. We spoke about the motivation behind his project, the struggles of cultural indifference in Queens and even our own families.

I thought it was interesting that Rafael mentioned to me that he only photographs landscapes on overcast days, which as most photographers can attest to, offer the best exposure to extract the detail from your subject.

I look forward to working with Rafael soon, but in the meantime while we figure things out, please go follow https://www.instagram.com/allthequeenshouses/. You’ll thank me later.

Words by Adolfo Steve Vazquez photo by Rafael Herrin-Ferri