Joseph Rodríguez: Spanish Harlem: El Barrio in the ’80s
On View: Nov 11 – Dec 23, 2017
Bronx Documentary Center Annex
364 E. 151st St, Bronx, NY 10455
Spanish Harlem: El Barrio in the ’80s portrays a crucial moment in New York’s past—one that affirms our need to confront the city’s quickly morphing present. While the subjects depicted seem to be from another era, the problems of inequality, racial segregation, and marginalization of black and brown people have in fact remained. The faces and spaces in these photographs are necessary reminders of the human face of tragedy and triumph that continue to resonate in the present day.
Exhibition curated by Cynthia Rivera and Michael Kamber.
Exhibition text by Ed Morales, Joseph Rodriguez and Michael Kamber.
Spanish translations by Maria de la Paz Galindo.
Exhibitions at the Bronx Documentary Center are made possible by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Foundation support is provided by the Clif Family Foundation, Chris Hondros Fund, Four Friends Foundation, Ford Foundation, Jonathan Logan Family Foundation, Lawrence Foundation, Pierre and Tania Matisse Foundation, Peck Foundation, Scherman Foundation, and the Van Agtmael Fund. Special thanks to our corporate sponsors Adobe, BronxCare Health System, Fujifilm, and Montefiore Health System.
Shot in the mid-to-late ’80s, Joseph Rodríguez’s powerful photographs bring us into the core of the neighborhood, capturing the spirit of people who survive despite the ravages of poverty, and more recently, the threat of gentrification and displacement. In a past and distant landscape littered with abandoned buildings, ominous alleyways, and the plague of addiction, the residents of Spanish Harlem persevered with flamboyant style and gritty self-reliance.
Rodriguez, himself a working-class Puerto Rican from the streets of Brooklyn, spent five years in “El Barrio” as the neighborhood is known. Working closely with families, residents, and the neighborhood’s social institutions, he attended birthdays, holy communions, funerals, demonstrations, graduation ceremonies, and quiet Sunday afternoons on the block.
Often, Rodriguez just hung out, spending time with his friends, waiting for a moment in time to raise his Leica. His vibrant Kodachrome images form the most powerful body of work in existence of New York’s Latino community in the bleak yet vital era of the 1980s.
Joseph Rodriguez was born in Brooklyn and studied at the School of Visual Arts, New York City Technical College, and the International Center of Photography, all in New York. He works in a social documentary style and his primary focus is the domestic landscape of the United States. Over the years he has photographed the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina; journeys of new immigrants to America; gang life in East Los Angeles; and life in Spanish Harlem.
Rodriguez’s photographs have appeared in a variety of publications including
The New York Times Magazine, GQ, Newsweek,
Esquire, and Der Spiegel.