The squatters of NYC’s lower east side photographed for 8 years by Ash Thayer

Squatters are individuals who move into unused properties without permission, often due to lack of housing, and form communities built on shared resources, diy repairs, and ties to punk culture. Between 1992 and 2000, Ash Thayer documented these people saying,

“I took the pictures partly because people needed to document all the work they did on the buildings, It was incredibly hard and unglamorous. In the winter there were blizzards. Getting up in the middle of a night, freezing, to pee in a bucket was not desirable or fun.”