Street View: Photographing Spanish Harlem in the 1980s

Books News

joseph rodriguez

Feb 3, 2018

Rodriguez's photographs were (and remain) a rare window into a place that is considerably less famous than its adjoining neighbor to the west, the historically African American neighborhood of Harlem. Between the 1920s and 1940s, thousands of Puerto Ricans began settling in the area, also known as East Harlem or El Barrio, transforming it into a cultural hub. Rodriguez was raised in Brooklyn but frequently visited his uncle's candy store in El Barrio as a child. In Spanish Harlem, he writes about being part of a spirited community where "people on the block would come by to play dominoes, listen to the music of Puente, Palmieri, Colón, drink beer and talk about baseball."

Street View: Photographing Spanish Harlem in the 1980s | AHA

Joseph Rodríguez
PHOTOGRAPHER

Joseph Rodríguez Photography

Joseph Rodríguez is a Documentary photographer born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He studied photography in the School of Visual Arts and in the Photojournalism and Documentary Photography Program at the International Center of Photography in New York City.

Joseph Rodríguez PHOTOGRAPHER

Joseph Rodríguez Photography

Joseph Rodríguez is a Documentary photographer born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He studied photography in the School of Visual Arts and in the Photojournalism and Documentary Photography Program at the International Center of Photography in New York City.

Joseph Rodríguez
PHOTOGRAPHER