SPANISH HARLEM/ EL BARRIO IN THE 80S

To live in Spanish Harlem, New Yorks oldest barrio, is to confront some of the citys most endemic problems: crime, drugs, AIDS, an d chronic unemployment. Yet the mecca where Puerto Ricans first established themselves in the 1940s is now the capital of Hispanic America home to 120,000 people, half of whom are Latino. Shot in the mid-to-late 80s, Joseph Rodriguezs superb photographs brin g us into the heart of Spanish Harlem, capturing a spirit and a time that survives despite the ravages of poverty. In a now-distant landscape littere...[Read more]