No Visitors No Candles by Shreya Sahai

Issue 169

Steps away from the hustle-bustle of Times Square is St Joseph’s Immigrant Home, a Catholic hostel for women in Hell’s Kitchen under the purview of the Daughters of Mary of the Immaculate Conception. It has offered women across borders and beliefs a safe and affordable place to call home since the 1940s and is one of the few remaining women-only single-room occupancy residences in New York City today.

Life at St Joseph's is quiet but it comes at a cost: no elevators, no visitors, and no candles.

Sometimes diaristic, sometimes surreal, ‘No Visitors, No Candles’ takes viewers behind the charming exposed brick façade of St Joseph’s and into the inner life and private spaces of its diverse residents, as chronicled by a resident. Exploring themes of identity, home, and sisterhood, it is a long-term project encompassing an intimate and collaborative series of studio and environmental portraiture, interiors, self- portraiture, and still lifes.

Shreya Sahai (she/her) is from Delhi, India. She lives and works in New York City, New York.
www.sahaiwithani.com | @sahaiwithani