Past Event: Book Launch: Joseph Rodriguez's El Barrio in the '80s

Join the Museum of the City of New York and Union Settlement to celebrate the book launch of Spanish Harlem: El Barrio in the '80s. 

When Brooklyn-raised photographer Joseph Rodriguez first debuted his body of work shot in Spanish Harlem in the 1980s, it truly captured the spirit of the neighborhood. At that time, El Barrio was confronted with some of the city’s most endemic problems including crime, drugs, AIDS, and chronic unemployment. Despite this grim prognosis, the neighborhood maintained a vibrant community and sense of pride. Now, three decades later, Rodriguez's new book Spanish Harlem: El Barrio in the '80s revisits his groundbreaking photographs, uncovering new images and re-framing the project as one that pushed beyond documentary into the realm of fine art. Read more in David Gonzalez's recent "Lens" blog in The New York Times.

Rodriguez will be joined by the Museum's Curator of Prints and Photographs, Sean Corcoran, for a conversation about his experience photographing the neighborhood. 

Reception and book signing to follow.  
Books will be available for purchase -- all book sales proceeds will go to Union Settlement, one of the oldest settlement houses in New York City, providing community-based services and programs that support the immigrant and low-income residents of East Harlem.

About the Speakers:
Joseph Rodriguez is a Brooklyn born, internationally recognized documentary photographer.  Rodriguez's work has appeared in publications ranging from Newsweek to National Geographic. He has received awards and grants from organizations including the National Endowment for the Arts and the Rockefeller Foundation. He has been awarded Pictures of the Year by the National Press Photographers Association and the University of Missouri in 1990, 1992, 1996, and 2002. 

Sean Corcoran is the Curator of Prints and Photographs at the Museum of the City of New York. His exhibitions have included City as Canvas: Graffiti Art from the Martin Wong Collection, In the South Bronx of America: Photographs by Mel Rosenthal, and A City Seen: Todd Webb’s Post-War New York 1945-1960. Corcoran's latest exhibition, Through a Different Lens: Stanley Kubrick Photographs, will open at the Museum on May 3, 2018.

This event is part of Core Conversations, a series of lectures, talks, and tours in which New York City's leading thinkers examine the four key themes of our New York at Its Core exhibition -- diversity, density, money, and creativity -- each through their own unique lens. To view all of the programs in the series, click here.