Nathan Kensinger is an award-winning documentary photographer and filmmaker. His work explores off-limits parts of the urban landscape. For the last five years, he has been documenting the industrial neighborhoods of New York City. His documentary “Covered Tracks” – which explores an abandoned homeless city underneath Manhattan – is currently screening at festivals around the country including Slamdance, The Boston Underground and Rooftop Films. In 2008, his photos of Brooklyn’s endangered industrial waterfront were exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum and in a solo show at the Brooklyn Library titled “Twilight on the Waterfront: Brooklyn’s Vanishing Industrial Heritage.”
My recent documentary “Covered Tracks” focuses on another abandoned New York space. “Covered Tracks” is an experimental documentary about Manhattan’s Freedom Tunnel, a 3-mile-long train tunnel that was once use by freight lines. After the tracks were largely abandoned, it became an underground homeless city. Today, the tunnel is once again being used by commuter trains, and has been abandoned by most homeless residents. “Covered Tracks” focuses on the artifacts left behind by its previous inhabitants: massive graffiti murals covering the walls, photographs, toys and other mysterious artifacts.
