In this cultural moment of great change (COVID-19 + Economy + Civil Rights Protests), Bronx photography collective En Foco Inc presents “Changing Landscapes” a virtual photography exhibition about how places and the people in them change.
The show opens online at enfoco.org on Friday, June 5, 2020.
Changing Landscapes features the work of:
- Adela Hurtado “The Colors of Trujillo” (Peruvian hometown)
- Anders Jones “Buy Bye Bedstuy”
- Ignacio Soltero a drone art photographer
- Cindy Trinh “No Boundaries”
“In these trying times En Foco remains dedicated to amplifying the voices of communities who have long been on the losing end of gentrification and systemic racism, in the hopes of bringing about lasting change. #blm” En Foco.
The exhibition is curated by Juanita Lanzo and organized by Kim Vaquedano-Rose.
The Colors of Trujillo
Adela Hurtado is a Peruvian-American photographer, animator and lawyer based in New York City.
Her photos of doors in Trujillo, the Peruvian town where her parents are from, speaks to the constant change of New York City, a city that like some ancient god eats its own children. If you leave New York for a year and come back, you’ll find the city changed.
Hurtado began making this photo series on family visits to the mother country. Those are part of the immigrant experience. Her father added meaning with stories about the people who once lived behind those doors.
On subsequent visits, Trujillo noticed that many of her subjects are gone. The series speaks to the question of what to keep and what to leave behind in a moment when technology has accelerated the rate of change in places, peoples and cultures.
Love the cover image. It shows something old and beautiful that is made even richer by the modern graffiti on the wall.
adelahurtado.com
Instagram @adelaenchanted
Buy Bye BedStuy
Anders Jones is an African-American photographer, artist and textile designer based in New York City. He has a practice as a textile designer.
Along with Harlem, Bed-Stuy (Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn) is one of New York City’s traditional African-American neighborhoods. Duke Ellington’s A Train joins the neighborhoods. Like all of New York City, it is rapidly gentrifying. High rents are changing communities.
Given his professional textile design background, Jones sees Bed-Stuy as a quilt. That’s a very powerful American and African-American concept. A quilt is something family or community members make together from scraps to give us comfort.
Jones turns mundane New York street corner scenes into a dynamic patchwork quilt that makes you look at something you might otherwise ignore.
New York Aerials
Ignacio Soltero is a Bronx-Puerto Rican photographer, graphic designer and DJ.
In this untitled series, Soltero uses camera drones to turn New York City into aerial abstractions that speak to the presence or absence of New Yorkers.
The work has a certain surprise and humor to it. Soltero’s unique point of view makes you wonder where are those places. This series was shot in Queens, Governor’s Island and Nyack (slightly upstate).
Instagram @photos_by_ignacio_soltero/
No Boundaries
Cindy Trinh is a Vietnamese-American photojournalist focused on social justice and human rights.
She noticed that you could travel the world without leaving chinatown because there are chinatowns everywhere. New York City alone has nine chinatowns. These Chinese barrios originally formed for community and protection from racial violence.
Immigrants have traditionally been forced into the worst areas, but the communities transformed these chinatowns into something rich and beautiful. Trinh’s concept speaks to the idea that no matter where we are from, we are all citizens of the world.
Love the photo. It’s of Flushing Chinatown, but reminds us of the street market on Mott St below Grand in Manhattan Chinatown. New York City streets used to be full of cart vendors who advertised their wares with selling songs (pregones in Spanish). It’s the only place in New York City we know where you can still hear vendors singing their selling songs (in Chinese “Sweet, Juicy Fruit”).
cindytrinh.com
Instagram @cindytrinh.photo
From all the different viewpoints of our city, one thing stands out. We love New York!