With its proximity to the cultural hub of New York City and its quieter suburban and rural landscapes, Connecticut was fertile ground for artists and writers in the period of Modernist movements between 1913 and 1979. Many of these cultural figures are well known through biographical and critical studies. Creative Places seeks to show how place played a significant role in creative work, and how in turn the artists and writers influenced communities in Connecticut.
Juan Fuentes Vizcarrondo
Photography, Journalism/Non-Fiction
1932 – 2015
Photographer of local events and activism in the Puerto Rican community of Hartford.
- Biography/Description of Work
Juan M. Fuentes Vizcarrondo (1932-2015) and his camera have borne witness to nearly every important news, social, and artistic event in Hartford’s Latino community for more than 50 years. His efforts to chronicle the lives of Puerto Ricans and other Hispanics in the city began in 1967, when he had an opportunity to write a weekly column, in Spanish, for the Hartford Times, the city’s afternoon newspaper. The column needed photos, so he built a darkroom in his apartment in Dutch Point and began capturing his community on film in a period that included riots in 1968 and increasing activism. Over the intervening years his work has been published in virtually every newspaper in the city. Fuentes purchased a home in the Blue Hills neighborhood and this became his studio location. Juan Fuentes is featured as a teller of the story for the Puerto Rican Heritage Trail. His photos capture and preserve the culture and experiences of the Puerto Rican community. He has documented the famous in Hartford, such as musician Tito Puente, Juan Figueroa, the first Puerto Rican state rep, as well as personal and family events such as baptisms and weddings. In choosing subjects, he said, ‘this building is here today; tomorrow it might not be there. But I don’t look for beauty in mountains; I look for beauty in people. Our people, some of them, are very photogenic.’ - (Main 2012)
- Sources view
- CT Historical Society online exhibition
Correa de Best, Carol. Puerto Rican Heritage Trail. http://www.hispanichartford.org/scholarship/puerto-rican-heritage-trail-carol-correa-de-best/
Dunn, Stephen. 'Juan Fuentes Photographer; Series: Hartford Legends.' Hartford Courant, 11/19/2000.
Main, Doug. 'Juan Fuentes: the Latino Community’s Photographer for 45 Years' http://ctlatinonews.com/2012/11/16/juan-fuentes-the-latino-communitys-photographic-witness-for-more-than-40-years/
Ortiz, Benjamn, Guest curator. Exhibition catalog, 'A New Identity? Una Nueva Identidad?' New Britain Museum of American Art, 2000.
Porter, Micaela. 9/17/2015. Juan Fuentes-Vizcarrondo; Hartford Photographer, Activist, Dies. Hartford Courant. - Associated Resource(s)