Rafael Ramirez

June 3 – July 16, 2002
Edenwald Public Library
1255 East 233rd Street
Bronx, NY 10466

The En Foco Touring Gallery program presents black and white photographs by Rafael Ramirez, at the Edenwald Public Library in the Bronx, from June 3 to July 16, 2002.

Rafael Ramirez explains that his photographs are “an act of faith… If one photographs long enough, instinct takes over. As in Zen, the mind is stilled, and the senses are allowed to respond to visual stimulation. A double take becomes a snap of the shutter and then quickly forgotten. All judgments are withheld as an internal dialogue develops between the eye and the senses that leads to new discoveries. With time, it becomes apparent that these acts of faith eventually reveal a unique vision. There are no short cuts for realizing your own vision, your own voice. There are only acts of faith.”

Ramirez was born in New York City in 1952 of Puerto Rican parents. His education includes the Germain School of Commercial Photography and Queen College, NY. His awards include the Creative Artist Public Service Program (CAPS), NYC 1981; and First Prize in the professional category of the Jack Daniel’s Photography Contest.

He has exhibited at the En Foco Gallery and Hostos College Art Gallery, Bronx, NY; Queens Museum, Queens, NY; City Gallery, the New Museum, El Museo del Barrio and Lincoln Center’s Cork Gallery, NYC; Museo del Grabado Lationoamericano and Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, PR; Museo de Ponce, Ponce, PR; Museo de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras, PR; Inter-American University, Arecibo, PR; and Casa Aboy, Miramar, PR.