Angel Franco

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Invisible New Yorkers

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From the margins of the metropolis to the center of the city, Ángel Franco went out in search of "Invisible New Yorkers." His journey -- armed with a camera and sketchbook -- was to discover the secrets and passions people harbored in their hearts, sometimes against all hope or expectation.

The result is a black book bursting with potent portraits embellished by his subject's own words and drawings. A woman, suffering from mental illness, clings to her poetry. A...
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From the margins of the metropolis to the center of the city, Ángel Franco went out in search of "Invisible New Yorkers." His journey -- armed with a camera and sketchbook -- was to discover the secrets and passions people harbored in their hearts, sometimes against all hope or expectation.

The result is a black book bursting with potent portraits embellished by his subject's own words and drawings. A woman, suffering from mental illness, clings to her poetry. A man whose head is covered with tattoos, reveling in the diversity of the people who work at a side- show. A mother and musician who sustains her late son's memory by hosting jazz salons in her living room. A homeless couple who yearn to marry -- and find a place to live for $100 a week.

These are the New Yorkers who survive -- and sometimes thrive -- away from the limelight. In Franco's eye, they become guides to a rediscovered urban landscape.

Ángel Franco is a senior photographer at the New York Times. A protégé of Ben Fernandez, he went on to cover Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as producing a singular body of work on New York City. He has been part of two Pulitzer Prize-winning teams. Among his many awards are the Leica Medal of Excellence, and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York Foundation for the Arts.

-- David Gonzalez, October 2010
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  • Invisible New Yorkers
    Invisible New Yorkers



  • Invisible New Yorkers
    Invisible New Yorkers

  • Invisible New Yorkers
    Invisible New Yorkers
  • Invisible New Yorkers
    Invisible New Yorkers