Blogged by: Boris Müller, February 4, 2016
Burnt-out cars and collapsed blocks: Camilo José Vergara’s pictures from the 1970s show the Big Apple when it was still a rough, dangerous bastard.
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South Bronx, 1970
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In 1968, Camilo José Vergara, born in Chile in 1944, moved to New York. While studying sociology at Columbia University, he began photographing in run-down neighborhoods like the South Bronx and the Lower East Side. The transformation of the city and its documentation interested him even more than the artistic aspect.
With his direct, unsentimental and unbiased way of photographing, he created contemporary documents of important historical significance. Vergara has been honored for lifetime achievement with the MacArthur Fellowship and the National Humanities Medal.
![Fifth Ave. at 110th St. E. Harlem 1970](https://i0.wp.com/blog.tagesanzeiger.ch/zoom/wp-content/uploads/sites/41/2016/02/0002030811-978x646.jpg?resize=900%2C594&ssl=1)
Fifth Avenue 110th St. East Harlem, 1970
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![East Harlem, 1970](https://i0.wp.com/blog.tagesanzeiger.ch/zoom/wp-content/uploads/sites/41/2016/02/0002030813-978x651.jpg?resize=900%2C599&ssl=1)
East Harlem, 1970
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![Hunts Point, South Bronx, 1970](https://i0.wp.com/blog.tagesanzeiger.ch/zoom/wp-content/uploads/sites/41/2016/02/0002030790-978x652.jpg?resize=900%2C600&ssl=1)
Hunts Point, South Bronx, 1970
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![Cadillac Fleetwood, Harlem 1970](https://i0.wp.com/blog.tagesanzeiger.ch/zoom/wp-content/uploads/sites/41/2016/02/0002030810-978x648.jpg?resize=900%2C596&ssl=1)
Cadillac Fleetwood, Harlem, 1970
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![Avenue C, Lower East Side, 1970](https://i0.wp.com/blog.tagesanzeiger.ch/zoom/wp-content/uploads/sites/41/2016/02/0002030814-978x653.jpg?resize=900%2C601&ssl=1)
Avenue C, Lower East Side, 1970
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![Eagle at Westchester Ave., Bronx 1970](https://i0.wp.com/blog.tagesanzeiger.ch/zoom/wp-content/uploads/sites/41/2016/02/0002030782-978x659.jpg?resize=900%2C606&ssl=1)
Westchester Ave., Bronx, 1970
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![Garage, Bushwick, Brooklyn, 1971](https://i0.wp.com/blog.tagesanzeiger.ch/zoom/wp-content/uploads/sites/41/2016/02/0002030792.jpg?resize=900%2C1349&ssl=1)
Garage, Bushwick, Brooklyn, 1971
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![View of the World Trade Center under construction from Duane Street, Manhattan, 1970. The homeless man in this image woke up as he was being photographed and asked Vergara to buy him a ham sandwich.](https://i0.wp.com/blog.tagesanzeiger.ch/zoom/wp-content/uploads/sites/41/2016/02/0002030800.jpg?resize=900%2C1338&ssl=1)
The World Trade Center under construction. The homeless man woke up to being photographed and asked Vergara to buy him a ham sandwich. 1970
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![Boy, Morrisania, S. Bronx, 1970](https://i0.wp.com/blog.tagesanzeiger.ch/zoom/wp-content/uploads/sites/41/2016/02/0002030808-978x651.jpg?resize=900%2C599&ssl=1)
Junge in Morrisania, South Bronx, 1970
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![Girls with Barbies, East Harlem, 1970](https://i0.wp.com/blog.tagesanzeiger.ch/zoom/wp-content/uploads/sites/41/2016/02/0002030812-978x654.jpg?resize=900%2C602&ssl=1)
Girls with barbies, East Harlem, 1970
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![On the Way to Harlem, 1970](https://i0.wp.com/blog.tagesanzeiger.ch/zoom/wp-content/uploads/sites/41/2016/02/0002030794.jpg?resize=900%2C1345&ssl=1)
A horse-drawn wagon on the way to Harlem, 1970
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![Hoe Avenue at 172nd St., Bronx, 1970](https://i0.wp.com/blog.tagesanzeiger.ch/zoom/wp-content/uploads/sites/41/2016/02/0002030807-978x652.jpg?resize=900%2C600&ssl=1)
Hoe Avenue/172nd Street., Bronx, 1970
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![Puerto Rican Wedding, East Harlem, 1970](https://i0.wp.com/blog.tagesanzeiger.ch/zoom/wp-content/uploads/sites/41/2016/02/0002030783-1-978x652.jpg?resize=900%2C600&ssl=1)
Puerto Rican Wedding, East Harlem, 1970
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![Bronx River, Bronx, 1970](https://i0.wp.com/blog.tagesanzeiger.ch/zoom/wp-content/uploads/sites/41/2016/02/0002030780-978x652.jpg?resize=900%2C600&ssl=1)
Bronx-Fluss, Bronx, 1970
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![Lower East Side, Manhattan, 1970](https://i0.wp.com/blog.tagesanzeiger.ch/zoom/wp-content/uploads/sites/41/2016/02/0002030815-978x653.jpg?resize=900%2C601&ssl=1)
Lower East Side, Manhattan, 1970
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