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Revision as of 10:16, 4 January 2011

Manuel Rivera-Ortiz
Manuel Rivera-Ortiz, Paris, France, 2009
Born (1968-12-23) December 23, 1968 (age 55)
Pozo Hondo, Guayama, Puerto Rico
NationalityPuerto Rican
American
Notable credit(s)2004: En Foco New Works Photography Award. 2007: Artist of the Year, Arts & Cultural Council for Greater Rochester
Websitehttp://www.rivera-ortiz.com

Manuel Rivera-Ortiz (born December 23, 1968 in Pozo Hondo, Guayama, Puerto Rico) is an American documentary photographer, the author of several photographic collections and the recipient of a number of awards.[1] He is best known for his documentary photographs of people's living conditions in less developed countries.[2] Rivera-Ortiz lives in Rochester, New York, in New York City and in Zurich.

Early life

Rivera-Ortiz was born into a poor family in the barrio of Pozo Hondo, outside Guayama on the Caribbean coast of Puerto Rico, the eldest of ten children (including four half-siblings and two stepsisters). He grew up in a corrugated tin shack with dirt floors without running water.[3][4] His father hand-chopped sugar cane in the fields of Central Machete and Central Aguirre in the declining days of the Puerto Rican sugar industry, and, following the Zafra or sugar-harvesting season, labored as a migrant farm worker in New England and the Mid-Atlantic states.[citation needed]

Tobacco Harvesting, Viñales Valley, Cuba 2002

When Rivera-Ortiz was 11 years old, his parents separated and his father moved with the children to the US mainland in Holyoke, Massachusetts. The separation from his mother who his has not seen since then marked Rivera-Ortiz for his life. He attended classes at Mt. Holyoke and Springfield colleges as part of the Massachusetts Migrant Education summer program, where he was offered his first courses in photography and film development. The family later moved to Rochester, New York. Even though Spanish is his first language, Rivera-Ortiz graduated from East High School (Rochester, New York) with Regents and AP English and other language classes. At East High School Rivera-Ortiz shared a homeroom with Kim Batten for four years where they became friends. He then worked as a journalist. In 1995, Rivera-Ortiz graduated cum laude with a B.A. degree as an English major from Nazareth College, and in 1998 he received his Master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Following his graduation he worked as a journalist for newspapers (e.g. Democrat and Chronicle) and magazines (e.g. Elle), but soon turned to photojournalism and documentary photography. Since 2000 he is traveling the world as a freelance photographer with an emphasis on social issues and frequently exhibits his work in photographic exhibitions.[5]

Photographic career

Widow Of The Mines, Potosí, Bolivia 2004

Rivera-Ortiz is noted for his social documentary photography of people's living conditions in less developed nations.[6][7] Traveling widely, his photography focuses on humanitarian issues often ignored by mainstream media. His work is in permanent collections of several museums, including George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film.[8][9] In 2004, he received En Foco's New Works Photography Award,[10][11] and in 2007 the Artist of the Year Award of the Arts & Cultural Council for Greater Rochester.[12] In 2002, he photographed Cuba, comparing the conditions he found there to the Puerto Rico of his youth.[13] He has exhibited photographs showing the dignity of the Dalit ("Untouchable") Caste of India [14][15] and the Aymara living in the arid altiplano of Bolivia.[16] He has also photographed people from Kenya to Turkey to Thailand.[17] The University of Puerto Rico, in conjunction with the Museum of Art of Puerto Rico (Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico), featured Rivera-Ortiz' work in courses on contemporary photographers. His work has been featured in the April 2008 issue of Rangefinder.[3] In 2010, Rivera-Ortiz visited Dharavi and Baiganwadi and took pictures of daily life in these two Mumbai slums.

Rivera-Ortiz' pictures achieve to conciliate the apparent contradiction amongst the documentary and artistic value of a photograph, and his photographs have been accorded a place in galleries and museums alongside fine art photography.[5]

Quote

City Dump, Yamuna River Slum, Delhi, India 2005

"The irony about my photography is that making these pictures constantly reminds me of my past. But life continues without regard for my own struggles growing up. It is for this reason that today I make these pictures to lend the voice I have been given to those who like me then, are still living in poverty today." [18]—Manuel Rivera-Ortiz

Exhibitions

Selected solo exhibitions

Selected group exhibitions

Manuel Rivera-Ortiz Foundation for International Photography

The Manuel Rivera-Ortiz Foundation for International Photography is a non-profit private operating foundation headquartered in Rochester, New York. The Foundation was established in 2009 by Rivera-Ortiz to support underrepresented photographers, in particular from less developed countries[27] in four specific program areas: book publications, traveling exhibitions, awards and grants, and educational programs.

Publications

  • Viajeros: North American Artist / Photographers’ Images of Cuba, Lehigh University Art Galleries, 2005
  • "A Journey of Self-Discovery", Rangefinder Magazine. (PDF of the article).
  • Lori Marie Carlson, ed., Voices in first person, Simon & Schuster, 2008, ISBN 1416984453. Rivera-Ortiz provides the photographs in what the publisher describes as "A collection of monologues featuring the most respected Latino authors writing today, including Sandra Cisneros, Oscar Hijuelos, and Gary Soto.[28]
  • Percepciones en Blanco & Negro - Colombia, Ediciones Adéer Lyinad, 2009. ISBN 9589923704. Rivera-Ortiz provides the introduction to this collection of the work of 103 photographers.[29]

Collections

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Manuel Rivera-Ortiz.
  • Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, NY[30]
  • George Eastman House, Rochester, NY[8]
  • Lehigh University Art Galleries, Bethlehem, PA[30]
  • William Whipple Art Gallery and Museum, Marshall, MN[15][30]

See also

References

  1. ^ Austin, Josh. "Famous Documentary Photographers". Photography Arts Cafe. Retrieved 2010-12-04. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  2. ^ "The next Manuel Rivera-Ortiz?". The Esther Benjamins Trust. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
  3. ^ a b Rivera-Ortiz, Manuel (April 2008). "A Journey of Self-Discovery" (PDF). Rangefinder, the Magazine for Professional Photographers. p. 126. Retrieved 2010-04-10. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  4. ^ Glennie Seychew, Christa (January 2007). "An Interview with Photographer Manuel Rivera-Ortiz". Buffalo Rising. Retrieved 2010-03-07.
  5. ^ a b Malo, Alejandro. "Documentary Art". ZoneZero. Retrieved 2010-12-18. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  6. ^ Democrat & Chronicle April 3, 2005, pg C1
  7. ^ Metropolitan Magazine; Arts & Cultural Council, Rochester NY, cover story Spring 2007
  8. ^ a b c "2006 Annual Report" (PDF). George Eastman House. p. 9. Retrieved 2010-01-24. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  9. ^ ConXion Magazine, interview February 2007, pg. 10-11
  10. ^ a b c "Manuel Rivera-Ortiz". En Foco. Retrieved 2010-10-14.
  11. ^ Nueva Luz Magazine, Vol. 11, No. 2, pgs. 2-9, 2006.
  12. ^ Arts & Cultural Council "Arts Awards Recipients". Arts and Cultural Council for Greater Rochester. Retrieved 2010-01-27. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  13. ^ ConXion Magazine cover story, August 2004
  14. ^ Low, Stuart (2006-12-17). "Poverty's portrait". Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. pp. C.3 (cover story, Section C). Retrieved 2010-12-29. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  15. ^ a b c d "Kodak Presents Manuel Rivera-Ortiz Exhibit of India". Imaging Info. Retrieved 2010-03-07.
  16. ^ ConXion Magazine cover story August 2005, pgs. 10-11
  17. ^ "Picturing My Life". New York Foundation for the Arts. Retrieved 2010-01-27.
  18. ^ "Quotations from the World of Photography". PhotoQuotes.com. Retrieved 2010-05-09. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  19. ^ Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, July 30, 2004, p. I.61 (Insider Section)
  20. ^ En Foco Exhibitions
  21. ^ Artvoice
  22. ^ Democrat & Chronicle, August 27, 2004, page 24, Section I
  23. ^ "Hardships shape his images". Democrat and Chronicle. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
  24. ^ "Longwood Art Gallery Past Exhibitions And Events". Bronx Council on the Arts. Retrieved 2010-12-04. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  25. ^ Miami Herald, April 5, 2007
  26. ^ "Art Off the Main 2007". Retrieved 2010-11-20. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  27. ^ "Manuel Rivera-Ortiz". Luminous-Lint. Retrieved 2010-12-27.
  28. ^ Simon & Schuster description
  29. ^ Fotografia Colombiana
  30. ^ a b c "Manuel Rivera-Ortiz", in Lori Marie Carlson, ed., Voices in first Person: Reflections on Latino Identity (New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2008; ISBN 1416906355); available here at Google Books.
Wikiquote has quotations related to Manuel Rivera-Ortiz.

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