Jose Aguilar, originally from Pueblo, Mexico, has been living in El Barrio for almost 30 years, and enjoys being with his family, going to the park and listening to music when he’s not working.
These girls were selling homemade burritos with chicken, rice, beans and jalapenos.
These pairs of shoes, thrown above a lamppost, memorialize people in the neighborhood who have passed away according to residents of the area.
The main street of El Barrio on 116th
A barber shop that prides its local community.
This is one of many Mexican bodegas that sell a variety of imported foods from Mexico.
This vendor sells jello, rice milk, and pork grinds
Roasted Corn and Rice Milk
Street Style Burritos seved fresh off the grill
A store that sold a variety of leather boots that ranged from alligator to ostrich. The cheapest pair were $400.00
If you don’t feel like buying boots, you can always have a meal and still look at them.
This bodega sold a variety of meats. Most consisted of different cuts of pork.
Mexican and Puerto Rican flags hanging side by side between lampposts.
Angelo sells fresh fruit and and assortment of jello. He was not happy about his picure being taken
Fresh and fried mexican food that included corn, pork and rice as its main ingredients
Can I Help You?
Sitting in Jose Aguilar’s car with his son almost two weeks ago, I discovered a fear, wariness and humility embedded within the people of his country who, often struggle to make a living here in the city.
It was early in the evening, around six, and already dark outside. I expected to be sitting in his home along with his son and friend of mine, Jose, for the interview. It had taken two weeks of canceled appointments to meet with Mr. Aguilar. I had looked forward to the opportunity of speaking with both he and his family.
The newest residents of a traditionally Spanish neighborhood are embracing it with the same Latin gusto as their predecessors. Since the 1950s Spanish Harlem, or El Bario, has grown into a predominantly Puerto Rican community that has hosted other Spanish cultures originating from the Dominican Republic to South America. Over the past 15 years, Mexican immigrants have begun to occupy this area in much the same way that previous Latin cultures have, carving their traditions and culture into the neighborhood.
The physical geogrpahy of the area has become defined as situated roughly between 96th St. to 116th South to North, and extending from the East river to the Harlem River East to West. Boundaries of the community over the past decade have been chipped away at by gentrification even as the Mexican community continues to grow within it.
Their occupation of the neighborhood parallels that to other cultures that have inhabited various plots of the city during the great migrations of America’s industrial era. They have had to persevere through strikingly similar conditions that late 19th century settlers faced such as overcrowded housing, lack of rights, lower pay and arduous work days. Mexican immigrants are looking for greater opportunities for themselves and their families in much the same way that European and Asian settlers worked for in the early 20th century.
Their population has grown substantially throughout United States, particularly in New York, California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. Their working class role has become a vital support for the financial infrastructure of both large and small businesses, who continue to exploit their lack of American citizenship and rights.
My project will document and focus on the Mexican community occupying Spanish Harlem and how the neighborhood has changed as a result of their cultural influence. Restaurants, bodegas, interviewing residents and attending community gatherings will fuction as my initial, observational stepping stones, which will ultimately serve to illuminate how a new generation of spanish culture is redefining a neighborhood, city and country.
Chinatown continues to be an epicenter for a variety of Asian and American cultural aspects. Much of the neighborhood’s physical changes undergone over the past decade reflect how the community has been able to accommodate new business and development while still retaining its historical heritage.
These photographs were taken close to Chinatown’s main street of Canal, which is always bustling with cars, people, noise and seafood. Vendors are most prominent in these areas as there is always a high volume of people, particularly tourists, on the streets.
I decided to document Chinatown because I felt that, in the process of exploring the mainstreet area, I would find emerging cultural patterns from the people and the neighborhood . Chinatown’s success seems to result from being able to preserve its cultural traditions and diversity over the past 100 years with moderate change, which contrasts greatly to Little Italy’s slow but continuous recession into the nearby Asian neighborhood.
Field Notes:
Photo One: I picked this man randomly out of the hundreds if not thousands of other vendors attmepting to make a living by canal street. I was intriqued more with the wandering expression in his face than what he was actually selling.
Photo Two: The colors and loudness of this building seemed to frame the Starbucks on its street level. There was a simultaneous co-existence of traditional and contemporary voices when I looked at it.
Photo Three: The color contrast of the Apple billboard to the rustic building is almost comical given the sheer size of the advertisement.
Photo Four: Walking by this Chase bank, I observed how both languages were very similar in proportion but differed greatly by the structure of their vocabulary.
Photo Five: The streets at this intersection were quite narrow when I took this picture. I also don’t think there there were any traffic lights. I thought that this sign post reflected an intriguing confluence of language and physical symmetry when I passed by.
Photo Six: I was done taking pictures for the day and was looking to grab a bit to eat when I noticed this food vendor. In addition to seeing the usual suspects on his ad hoc menu, I noticed he was also selling fried chicken gizzards on a charming wooden stick.
