At the Point
Culture and Couture vs Poverty and Pimps
Every year, thousands of young women and men flock to Hollywood and New York City in search of fame. The harsh reality is that a number of them will gain only notoriety on Hollywood and Santa Monica Boulevards and the cold streets of Hunts Point at night.
This editorial is shot on location in the notorious Hunts Point section of the Bronx made “famous” by a series of HBO documentaries detailing the neighborhood’s penchant for prostitution, pimps, drugs and graffiti-stained warehouses. Medical studies have recently concluded that the high number of incinerators and car chop shops has made living in Hunts Point hazardous for its children—Hunts Point has the highest children’s asthma rates in the US and one of the higher school dropout rates.
However, Hunts Point is slowly changing. From the ashes of poverty, Hunts Point has become a mecca for many of the Bronx’s more progressive and politically-active, minority artists. Now, Hunts Point is undergoing a transformation as several art, dance and cultural centers have taken root including The Point, a youth-oriented arts and community center, BAAD, the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, and Tats Cru Inc., the internationally-recognized graffiti artists. A new waterfront park and bike path have provided its children respite from its nighttime notoriety.
The idea behind this editorial is to display the dichotomy that exists in Hunts Point. To do this, I shot these models, designers and contributing artists of color (Puerto Rican, Dominican, Ecuadorian, Sudanese and African American) of this editorial on the simple streets of Hunts Point and inside the famed Banknote Building where the US Treasury once printed foreign currency for other countries and which now houses several small community businesses and cultural centers.
The irony is that these same community people who helped transform the neighborhood after years of struggle are now being evicted as elite Manhattan artists and businesses buy out their property and leases.
I hope the point of my editorial is clear: there is beauty in poverty.
At the Point Culture and Couture vs Poverty and Pimps
A political fashion editorial
Photography and Art Direction by Ricardo Muñiz (http://ricardomuniz.solomodels.com) Couture designs by José Duran (www.joseduran.net)
Styling: Zulma Mejía
Make Up: Thalío Almodóvar
Hair: CrewsHair360
Graffitti Art by Tats Cru, Inc.
Models:
Nyakhor Khor (courtesy of Erin at Red Models, female division)
Deilín Sanz and William Jiménez (courtesy of Coquichulo Images)
Clothing and pricing:
On Nyakhor, hound’s-tooth jacket, $500, and hound’s-tooth riding pants, $250, by José Duran (www.joseduran.net).
On Deilín, olive Ché Guevara tee, $22, by Cemí Underground (www.cemiunderground.com).
On William, white peace medal tee, $25, by Authentic Boricua (www.authenticboricual.com).
On Nyakhor, green and cream draped Hombre cocktail dress with white leather trim, $2000, by José Duran (www.joseduran.net).
On Nyakhor, olive draped lace dress with draped brown leather shoulder, $1800, by José Duran (www.joseduran.net).
On Deilín, dark green leather vest, $750, by José Duran (www.joseduran.net).
Additional men’s styling and “Abuelita” puppet by Ricardo Muñiz.
A version of this was published, as you can see by the first and last shots, by Fantastics Mag (Thanks, James!).
Culture and Couture vs Poverty and Pimps
Every year, thousands of young women and men flock to Hollywood and New York City in search of fame. The harsh reality is that a number of them will gain only notoriety on Hollywood and Santa Monica Boulevards and the cold streets of Hunts Point at night.
This editorial is shot on location in the notorious Hunts Point section of the Bronx made “famous” by a series of HBO documentaries detailing the neighborhood’s penchant for prostitution, pimps, drugs and graffiti-stained warehouses. Medical studies have recently concluded that the high number of incinerators and car chop shops has made living in Hunts Point hazardous for its children—Hunts Point has the highest children’s asthma rates in the US and one of the higher school dropout rates.
However, Hunts Point is slowly changing. From the ashes of poverty, Hunts Point has become a mecca for many of the Bronx’s more progressive and politically-active, minority artists. Now, Hunts Point is undergoing a transformation as several art, dance and cultural centers have taken root including The Point, a youth-oriented arts and community center, BAAD, the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, and Tats Cru Inc., the internationally-recognized graffiti artists. A new waterfront park and bike path have provided its children respite from its nighttime notoriety.
The idea behind this editorial is to display the dichotomy that exists in Hunts Point. To do this, I shot these models, designers and contributing artists of color (Puerto Rican, Dominican, Ecuadorian, Sudanese and African American) of this editorial on the simple streets of Hunts Point and inside the famed Banknote Building where the US Treasury once printed foreign currency for other countries and which now houses several small community businesses and cultural centers.
The irony is that these same community people who helped transform the neighborhood after years of struggle are now being evicted as elite Manhattan artists and businesses buy out their property and leases.
I hope the point of my editorial is clear: there is beauty in poverty.
At the Point Culture and Couture vs Poverty and Pimps
A political fashion editorial
Photography and Art Direction by Ricardo Muñiz (http://ricardomuniz.solomodels.com) Couture designs by José Duran (www.joseduran.net)
Styling: Zulma Mejía
Make Up: Thalío Almodóvar
Hair: CrewsHair360
Graffitti Art by Tats Cru, Inc.
Models:
Nyakhor Khor (courtesy of Erin at Red Models, female division)
Deilín Sanz and William Jiménez (courtesy of Coquichulo Images)
Clothing and pricing:
On Nyakhor, hound’s-tooth jacket, $500, and hound’s-tooth riding pants, $250, by José Duran (www.joseduran.net).
On Deilín, olive Ché Guevara tee, $22, by Cemí Underground (www.cemiunderground.com).
On William, white peace medal tee, $25, by Authentic Boricua (www.authenticboricual.com).
On Nyakhor, green and cream draped Hombre cocktail dress with white leather trim, $2000, by José Duran (www.joseduran.net).
On Nyakhor, olive draped lace dress with draped brown leather shoulder, $1800, by José Duran (www.joseduran.net).
On Deilín, dark green leather vest, $750, by José Duran (www.joseduran.net).
Additional men’s styling and “Abuelita” puppet by Ricardo Muñiz.
A version of this was published, as you can see by the first and last shots, by Fantastics Mag (Thanks, James!).
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