A MULTIMEDIA EXHIBIT AT SOUTH BRONX UNITE
ABOUT THE SHOWCASE
Edwin Pagán’s THROWBACK is a documentary photo essay that focuses on the resiliency of urban communities who have prevailed and thrived beyond their environments in the South Bronx, Spanish Harlem (El Barrio), and the Lower East Side (Loisaida). The images compiled in this photographic showcase reveal the untainted splendor of communities in everyday situations. Individually they present fleeting tableaux of precise personal incidents. Taken together, they provide a wider understanding of how universal youth resiliency really is.
Starting at the age of eleven and continuing until today, Edwin Pagán has documented the people of the South Bronx and other interconnected communities with a disciplined photographic eye that he’s trained over the course of 50 years to “see” and not merely “look.” This has allowed him to capture a full visual spectrum of the region in a manner that is a unique hallmark of his creative and compassionate visual signature.
The photographs selected for this exhibition were taken from 1989 through 2015.
opening RECEPTION
Thursday March 19, 2026 – 6pm-8pm
127 Lincoln Avenue, 2nd Fl.
The Bronx, NY 10454
SCREENING
‘DECADE OF FIRE’
Thursday April 9, 2026 – 6:30pm-9pm
127 Lincoln Avenue, 2nd Fl.
The Bronx, NY 10454
DECADE OF FIRE, a hard-hitting look at the fire-for-hire burning of The Bronx (1960s through 1980s). Throughout the 1970’s, fires consumed the South Bronx. Black and Puerto Rican residents were blamed for the devastation even as they battled daily to save their neighborhoods. Bronx-born VIVIAN VÁZQUEZ IRIZARRY pursues the truth surrounding the fires – uncovering policies of racism and neglect that still shape our cities, and offering hope to communities on the brink today. Through exposing the history, and lifting up the stories of survivors whose deep commitment to their homes and communities saved the borough, DECADE OF FIRE offers the emergence of a new narrative for the South Bronx and places like it across the nation.
PLUS, a post-screening Q&A session with Vivian, educator, cultural advocate, filmmaker, the director, producer behind the documentary.
Learn more about Vivian Vázquez-Irizarry and the making of ‘Decade of Fire’ in this BronxDNA podcast interview by Edwin Pagán.
Watch the film’s trailer below…
Presented by
