This monograph presents Joseph Rodriguez’s photographs of Spanish Harlem, New York’s oldest barrio, made from the mid to late 1980s. Documenting a predominantly Latino community shaped by poverty, unemployment, crime, drug addiction, and AIDS, the book juxtaposes scenes of daily life, including children at play and Bomba Plena performances on Old Timer’s Day, with images of addiction and illness. Rodriguez portrays residents’ resilience and self-reliance amid abandoned buildings and other effects of urban disinvestment.
