Edwin J. Torres – Family Documentary Photographs
February 1 – 26, 2022
Opening Reception: February 5, 6-8pm
Exhibition Foreword by Joanne Torres
On April 4, 2020, Nitza Magalay Garay, mother of Edwin Torres and matriarch of her family, passed away. It was early in the pandemic — too early to know the risks of undergoing an elective surgery or convalescing in a rehab facility in New York where COVID-19 would go on to take many thousands of lives.
Since that time, like many others across the world, Edwin learned what so often is only gained through grief: family is safety, stability, purpose.
These are family photos — intimate moments caught on film of the people who loom large over Edwin’s life. Torres. Towers. Like you, I am an outsider invited to observe. These are the photos he has chosen to show us to preserve the memory of his family. They are honest moments, not the kind typically broadcast for public consumption, but the kind that take root in our foundation and form a family’s history. I study the subjects to better know the artist: their faces, expressions, posture, surroundings. Their story is one of courage, migration, loss, joy, pain, perseverance, and triumph. It is set in Puerto Rico and the Bronx, NY. The protagonists are strong, full of life, flawed, but admirable.
This project is dedicated to them, and especially to the memory of Edwin’s mother, Nitza.
About The Artist
Edwin J. Torres (b.1989) is an award-winning photographer preoccupied with uncovering stories about family life and disenfranchised communities that are often overlooked. He graduated from Colby College with a degree in American Studies, which sparked his intellectual curiosity about history, current events, and the representation of cultures in a variety of media.
Born in the Hunts Point neighborhood of the Bronx and raised in a Puerto Rican family, Torres developed a love for his vibrant community and works to serve as one of the voices from within.
Currently, Torres serves as the Visual Content Director for the Governor’s Office in New Jersey. Prior, he served as a staff photographer for the New York City Mayor’s Office. Prior to his work in government, Torres was a freelance photojournalist. In 2016, Torres was the lead photographer and contributed reporting in a Pulitzer Prize winning story with ProPublica and the New York Daily News. He is a member of the Bronx Photo League which is attached to The Bronx Documentary Center (BDC) and published the Jerome Avenue Worker’s Project.
His work has been published in the New York Times, Vice, The Atlantic, The New York Daily News, The American Prospect, ProPublica, The GroundTruth Project, Leica Blog, and several other outlets.
WEBSITE: https://www.edwintorrespf.com/