June 23, 2022
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Bill Aguado and Kim Vaquedano-Rose
En Foco Names Former Photo Fellow Danny R. Peralta as its New Managing Director
BRONX – Danny R. Peralta is the current director of THE POINT CDC’s Hunts Point Community Network (HPCN). As of July 1, he joins the En Foco team as managing director.
Peralta, who earned an MFA in 2020 from the International Center of Photography (ICP-Bard), was a winner of the En Foco 2016 Photography Fellowship Program, an initiative that affirms En Foco’s ongoing commitment to the financial support of artists of color and serves to inform mainstream galleries, contemporaries and curators of an existing pool of quality under-recognized artists.
Born in the Bronx and raised in the Inwood section of Manhattan, Peralta was also one of the featured artists in En Foco’s successful traveling exhibition, Dos Mundos: (Re)constructing Narratives. Dos Mundos traveled through SUNY New Paltz, Binghamton, Fredonia, and StonyBrook campuses from 2020-2021. Dos Mundos, which featured a selection of En Foco’s past fellowship recipients, continued the work of the 12 Puerto Rican photographers of the original 1973 Dos Mundos exhibition by offering fresh visions of existing discriminatory mainstream cultural perspectives and policies. In Dos Mundos, Peralta welcomed viewers to the Bronx’s underground Hip-Hop scene and introduced viewers to his collaborators at Guerrilla Grooves Radio station in The Best Damn Rap.
On Diversity in Photography
Peralta recalled being a fan of En Foco’s signature magazine, Nueva Luz. As a younger photographer taking classes at ICP @ THE POINT, Peralta recalls the diversity of the images and the artists in the magazine. Organizations like En Foco and publications like Nueva Luz must continue and prevail because there is a need for diverse voices in photography. The photography industry needs to be more diverse across the board from the classroom to the heads of galleries and publications and beyond. Photographers should be able to make a living from their art, and it can be more challenging for artists of color. Organizations, like En Foco, are vital to creating a platform, opening artistic opportunities, providing resources, and developing a network.
Peralta is excited to join and help grow En Foco, a nonprofit with a legacy of representing diverse photographers since 1974. He credits En Foco’s Executive Director Bill Aguado and Board Member Juanita Lanzo, as key figures in assisting with promoting his work in the Bronx. Peralta is grateful for the opportunity to join the team at En Foco and help shape its future. He is looking forward to working more closely with Aguado who will continue as executive director.
About Peralta
Shortly after Peralta graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and Science from NYU’s Steinhardt School of Education in 2000, Peralta began his work as a youth educator and community developer. In 2002, while searching to expand his love for art and storytelling, he formally began attending black and white photography workshops at ICP @ The Point. As a result, he was awarded the first Jocelyn Benzakin Fellowship for documentary photography in 2005. His photography series, Ma, winner of the 2007 BRIO Award via the Bronx Council of the Arts, was a documentary project where he shadowed his mother, who worked at a bread factory. In 2008, he returned to The Point CDC as Director of Arts and Education, and in the fall of 2015 became the Executive Managing Director. Peralta currently lives in the Pelham Gardens neighborhood in the Northeast section of the Bronx with his wife and two sons, who inspire his every endeavor.
Peralta’s Exhibitions and Recognitions
Peralta’s recent exhibitions include MTCFit Solo Exhibition, Poughkeepsie, NY, 2022; After Dark/Nueva Luz, Princeton, NJ, 2021; Of a Particulate Matter, ICP-Bard MFA Solo Thesis Exhibition, Long Island City, NY, 2020; and Bronx Now 2020, Chashama Gallery Space, NYC, 2020. Peralta has received numerous recognitions for his work including the Howard Chapnick Award; the Center for Documentary Photography New Media Fellowship, ICP, NYC; the ICP Director’s Fellowship, ICP-Bard MFA, NYC; and the MIT Co-Lab Mel King Fellowship in Boston, MA.
About En Foco
En Foco, Inc. is a non-profit that supports U.S.-based photographers of African, Asian, Latino, Native American, and Pacific Islander heritage. Founded in 1974, En Foco makes its work visible to the art world, yet remains accessible to under-served communities. Through exhibitions, workshops, events, and publications, it provides professional recognition, honoraria, and assistance to photographers as they grow into different stages of their careers. For more information about En Foco, visit
www.enfoco.org. To read past editions from our Nueva Luz archives, go to
https://enfoco.org/nueva-luz-archive/.
