Edwin Pagán is a first-generation Nuyorican who was born in New York City’s Lower East Side (Loisaida) to Puerto Rican parents.
Pagán was exposed to photography at the age of 10 while a member of the Madison Square Boys & Girls Club (Hoe Avenue Division) in the South Bronx. During those early formative years he was mentored by the Club’s art director Ernesto Lozano, who instilled a strong sense of documenting everyday events in the local community as a means of preserving its history. Over the next four decades Pagán has chronicled life in the area with an insider’s point-of-view, and created a body of work that reflects the tenacity and dignity of the people who lived through tumultuous times when the South Bronx was vilified and written off. The lessons learned during that time proved valuable in transforming him into an artist with the ability to ‘see’ rather than just ‘look.’
Indicates images that contain expanded contextual information and personal anecdotes. Click thumbnails to engage.
