Deciphering Urbanscapes

Online Gallery of Down These Mean Streets: Community and Place in Urban Photography

Online Gallery for Down These Mean Streets: Community and Place in Urban Photography
Ruben Ochoa, What if walls created spaces?, 2007, lenticular print mounted on aluminum composite, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center, 2015.42A-D, © 2007, Ruben Ochoa
What if walls created spaces?
Artist
Date2007
lenticular print mounted on aluminum composite
Not on view
Manuel Acevedo, Altered Sites #7, 1998, printed 2016, inkjet print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center, 2016.45, © 1998, Manuel Acevedo
Altered Sites #7
Artist
Date1998, printed 2016
inkjet print
Not on view
Winston Vargas, University of the Streets, Brownsville, Brooklyn, 1972, printed 2016, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center, and through the Frank K. Ribelin Endowment, 2017.9.12, © 1972, Winston Vargas
University of the Streets, Brownsville, Brooklyn
Artist
Date1972, printed 2016
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Frank Espada, No Parking (Williamsburg, Brooklyn), 1974, printed ca. 1995, inkjet print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center, 2015.22.10, © 1974, Frank Espada Photography
No Parking (Williamsburg, Brooklyn)
Artist
Date1974, printed ca. 1995
inkjet print
Not on view
Frank Espada, Untitled (Chair in the snow, Manhattan Valley, New York), 1981, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center, 2015.22.13, © 1981, Frank Espada Photography
Untitled (Chair in the snow, Manhattan Valley, New York)
Artist
Date1981
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Oscar R. Castillo, Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe at Maravilla Housing Project, Mednik Avenue and Brooklyn Avenue, East Los Angeles, early 1970s, printed 2012, inkjet print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2013.51.3, © 2012, Oscar R. Castillo
Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe at Maravilla Housing…
Artist
Dateearly 1970s, printed 2012
inkjet print
Not on view
Oscar R. Castillo, East Los Angeles Doctor's Hospital on Whittier Boulevard, 1970s, printed 2012, inkjet print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2013.51.8, © 2012, Oscar R. Castillo
East Los Angeles Doctor’s Hospital on Whittier Boulevard
Artist
Date1970s, printed 2012
inkjet print
Not on view
Manuel Acevedo, Hartford Re-visions Project I, II and III, 2004, printed 2012, inkjet prints, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible by William W.W. Parker, the R.P. Whitty Company and the Cooperating Committee on Architecture, 2013.53.1A-C, © 2004, Manuel Acevedo
Hartford Re-visions Project I, II and III
Artist
Date2004, printed 2012
inkjet prints
Not on view

Urban neglect was especially visible in the deteriorating condition of city streets. Rather than simply document blight, the photographers gathered here draw out the stories embedded in the physical environment in transformative ways. Frank Espada and Winston Vargas reinterpret abandoned buildings, empty lots, and graffiti as gateways to the memories and experiences of local residents. Oscar Castillo focuses on the purposeful ways residents rebuilt and beautified their communities. Manuel Acevedo and Ruben Ochoa deliberately alter existing images to draw our attention to the features of public space that shaped the lives of local residents.