In the spring of 2014 the three-year construction period for the Central Corridor aka Greenline light rail line will come to an end and interurban rail service will commence in the Twin Cities for the first time since the original street car system was dismantled in 1953. For the balance of the past two years this eleven-mile corridor has been the focus of our collective, photographic energies. Mindful of the conventions of documentary photography our approach has gradually evolved to form a deeper investigation into notions of place, history, identity, and ownership. While the newly built line represents a physical upheaval similar to that wrought by the construction of Interstates 94 and 35, we have chosen to turn away from the transformative construction and have instead focused upon the daily dramas and historical echoes as witnessed through the abundant human manifestations along the span. This approach incorporates a variety of personal inputs and historical references to guide and shape the direction of our imagery. While we have all worked independently on this project, we have used this stratum of information collectively in order to construct what we believe is a comprehensive, yet intimate reflection upon both this landscape and these communities in flux.
We have titled this project greenline. Beyond the Greenline itself, our reference extends to the numerous historical appearances of the name in mapmaking and its dubious progeny demarcation. Situated as it is between two distinct urban cores, this is an intermediate landscape of shifting thresholds and tangential influences. Like the Mississippi, the original line of transit between the Twin Cities, we view the parallel corridors of I94 and University Avenue as channels of a leashed river. The cultural tributaries and watersheds of which, serve to define the constituent subjects of greenline.