Photography Showcase
Joe Conzo
“Photography saved my life.”
Photography. A word you didn’t hear too much where I grew up. Growing up in the South Bronx, you had few choices: sports, gangs, or drugs. My mother raised five kids on her own and wasn’t about to let us succumb to the latter, and sports really didn’t come naturally for me. You see, I was that chubby kid with the huge Angela Davis afro, and having a camera set me apart from everyone in my neighborhood. My camera allowed me to document my surroundings and preserve a time that is long gone. Film was expensive for a kid like me, so each shot was planned or at least had some planning. Film allowed me to experiment with expressing my imagination. I tried to imitate Pablo Picasso, with his light writing, on film. Documenting the struggles of the South Bronx became important to me because of the role my family had as community activists. The kids I grew up with would end up creating a genre of music that has surpassed rock and roll, and I was there with my camera to document the birth of hip-hop.
Fast-forward 40+ years and photography has become my love and passion. It has brought me around the world documenting, exhibiting, and sharing. I tell some of the youth today that this kid from the South Bronx has been to Bulgaria—yep, Bulgaria! Never would I have imagined that my archives would be stored and displayed at Cornell University. I tell people that my images sit on the same shelf as the Gettysburg Address! How cool is that??!! I’m always pushing myself with the changing world of photography today. So much has changed, but I try to stay true to the way I started out: respect your subject, document your life, and have fun!
