People & Place

Through the end of April, Boston photographer Robin Radin displays landscape and street scenes of Jamaica Plain in state Rep. Jeffrey Sánchez’s office at the Massachusetts State House. “Landscapes and Streetscapes of Jamaica Plain” shows the dual livelihood of the neighborhood’s urban streets and the calm scenery of its green space.

Author: Courtesy Robin RadinRobin Radin’s photos chronicle life in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood.

Author: Courtesy Robin RadinRobin Radin’s photos chronicle life in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood.

“To have that urban wild space in the city alongside the energy of the people makes it a very inspiring place to live,” says Radin about her neighborhood. Last year, Radin had an exhibition of landscapes at the Emerald Necklace Conservancy’s Shattuck Visitor Center. That exhibit revealed the pensive, peaceful side of Boston, the still greenery and abandoned urban gardens in the early mornings and quiet of dusk.

Celebrating daily life

“Landscapes and Streetscapes of Jamaica Plain” reveals quite a different side of the historic Boston neighborhood. The landscapes no longer imply the otherworldly landscapes of a Fragonard painting, but the backyards of Jamaica Plain’s vibrant resident community. The men unloading fruit at a street stand might play a pickup basketball game there later, walking the same paths as the energetic morning joggers and mothers with their children.

The exhibition is a daily reminder for Sánchez of the people and the place he advocates for. Though Jamaica Plain is a greatly changed area, evolving in economics and population through gentrification, Radin says the heart of the neighborhood remains the same. This exhibit serves to celebrate the longstanding camaraderie of the area, rather than to illustrate its changes.

“Despite the divisive political climate in the country, there are values that many people in this community share as far as welcoming people of all cultures and backgrounds,” says Radin. “My work has always set out to celebrate that diversity.” True to this, the figurative photographs highlight Jamaica Plain’s black and Latino populations, not as a political statement but as a truthful capture of the local community.

New perspective

In her 35 years as a Jamaica Plain-based photographer, Radin has seen the neighborhood at its best and its worst. She says that while some photographers draw inspiration from travel, the many faces of her beloved neighborhood are enough to ignite her passion. She says, “I’m hoping that after people see my work they’ll think, ‘Wow, I never saw that place in that way before.’”