Community Portrait

Inner-city neighborhoods are communities where human narratives unfold. Births, marriages, and friendships take center stage in the photographs gathered in this section. Perla de Leon’s poignant photographs of the South Bronx in New York—an iconic blighted neighborhood—place into sharp relief the physical devastation of the neighborhood and the lives of the people who called it home. Winston Vargas documented family milestones and cultural landmarks in his New York City neighborhood, which welcomed new immigrants in the years surrounding the unrest of the 1960s and 1970s. John Valadez’s casual yet monumental street portraits of East Los Angeles residents celebrate the optimism of young people going about their daily lives.