Born and raised in the Bronx, Joe Conzo, Jr. was born into Bronx Royalty. His grandmother Dra. Evelina Lopez Antonetty, affectionately known as “The Hell Lady of The Bronx,” is credited with starting bilingual education in The Bronx and advocating for basic human rights for Bronx natives and people of color. His mother, the late Lorraine Montenegro is credited with starting the first Women with Children facility in the country to combat substance abuse. Joe Conzo, Sr. is considered the foremost Latin music historian in the country and teaches at Hostos Community College. Serving for five years in the Army as a combat medic, Conzo, Jr. found a career as an EMT and union activist in The New York City Fire Department. Retiring in 2018 after 25 years with FDNY, Conzo was a staunch advocate for his members who responded to the 9/11 tragedy and helped set up the 9/11 health registry, which would lead to the WTC Zadroga Bill.
Conzo’s passion for photography began as a young boy attending the Agnes Russell School on the campus of Columbia University. He continued his formal artistic education at the School of Visual Arts, in NYC. The New York Times heralded Conzo as “The Man Who Took Hip-Hop’s Baby Pictures.” In 2007, he published a seminal book on Hip Hop culture that has received worldwide recognition, Born in The Bronx: A Visual Record of the Early Days of Hip Hop. In 2008, this entire collection of images became part of a permanent archive housed at Cornell University. The digitization of over 10,000 of Conzo’s film images has already begun–progress can be viewed at the Cornell University Library’s website.
This collection is regarded by genre experts and academia as an important lens into the roots of Hip Hop culture, the urban New York City landscape of the 70’s and 80’s, and it is an integral source for any serious discourse on the movement. Conzo has traveled all over the world showcasing his photographic archives as a Bronx ambassador. In 2019, Conzo published his second book, 111 Places in the Bronx That You Must Not Miss showcasing the Bronx’s historical contributions to the world.
Conzo continues his photographic career documenting events all over the world and fighting for the basic human rights for the people in the Bronx.
