
Seis de Sur member Joe Conzo, Jr.
Joe Conzo, Jr. is one of the pioneers of Hip Hop photography. Starting out as a Yearbook staff member at South Bronx High School, Conzo became the official photographer to the legendary Cold Crush Brothers, a trailblazing group whose musical influence is still felt today.
True to his family roots, he also devoted his considerable talents to documenting both the giants of Latin music and the activists who fought to defend the rights of Puerto Ricans in NYC. His grandmother was Dr. Evelina Antonetty, the founder of United Bronx Parents, and his father, Joe Sr., was Tito’s Puente’s confidant and archivist.
Many of the images caught on black and white film by Conzo in the1970s and 80s, have traveled extensively throughout Asia, Europe,and the Americas. His first book “Born in The Bronx: A Visual Record of the Early Days of Hip Hop” (2007), a collaborative effort with noted New York musicologist and curator Johan Kugelberg, has received worldwide acclaim. The book is scheduled for its second edition printing.
In 2008, a collection of his early Hip Hop photographs became part of a permanent archive housed at Cornell University.
An Emergency Medical Technician with the Fire Department, Conzo is also active in the EMTs labor union, and continues to make his home in The Bronx.