JOSEPH RODRIGUEZ
Joseph Rodriguez started taking pictures in the 1980’s. Drawn to the social documentary style, he
sought out photography in an attempt to break stereotypes and expose the world to the truthful
portraits of American struggle. People are at the heart of his work and his pictures are often the
product of lengthy periods spent gaining the trust of his subjects. The results are raw, gritty, and
vivacious images, that reveal the resilience and the beauty of his subjects.
Born in 1951 in New York. Lives and works in New York.
EDUCATION
1973 School of Visual Arts, New York
1980 Associate of Applied Science New York City Technical College, New York
1985 Photojournalism/Documentary Diploma, International Center of Photography, New York
SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
LACMA - Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles
International Center of Photography, New York
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C.
The Open Society Foundation, New York
Museum Ludwig, Cologne
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023 Flesh Life: Sex in Mexico City, Galerie Bene Taschen, Cologne
2021 TAXI, Galerie Bene Taschen, Cologne
LAPD 1994, Bronx Documentary Center, New York
2018 Spanish Harlem, Galerie Bene Taschen, Cologne
2017 ‘Whose Streets? Our Streets!‘’: New York City, 1980-2000, Bronx Documentary Center
2013 A Humanist Gaze, Galerie Bene Taschen, Cologne
2005 Juvenile Justice, Galleri Kontrast, Stockholm
1998 Respekt, Stockholm Stadsmuseum, Stockholm
A Summer Wedding, Leica Gallery, New York
1996 East Side Stories: Gang Life in Los Angeles, Museo Nacional de Culturas Populares, Mexico
City
1995 The East Side Story: L.A. Gangs, International Center of Photography, New York
1988 Journey Through my Window, Fotograficentrum, Gothenburg
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2021 Photoville, New York
2020 SEBASTIÃO SALGADO – GOLD & JOSEPH RODRIGUZE TAXI Series: JOURNEY THROUGH MY
WINDOWS 1977-1987, Galerie Bene Taschen, Cologne
2019 Photoville, Los Angeles
2016 5 Years – 6 Artists, Galerie Bene Taschen, Cologne
2015 A Story to tell, Galerie Bene Taschen, Berlin
2014 Insights, Galerie Bene Taschen, Los Angeles Photography from 1978 – 2013,
Galerie Bene Taschen, Cologne 2013 / 2014 Our America: The Latino Presence in
American Art, Smithsonian, American Art Museum, Washington D.C.
2007 Engulfed by Katrina: Photographs Before and After the Storm, African American Museum in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2006 Engulfed by Katrina: Photographs Before and After the Storm, New York
University, Tisch School of the Arts, New York
2000 Art Latino: Treasure from the Smithsonian American Museum, El Paso Museum of Art
1995 Mother Jones International Fund for Documentary Photography, Award Winners
Exhibition Centro de la Imagen, Mexico City, Mexico
We Look and See, University Art Museum, Berkeley, California
1987 El Dia de Los Muertos: Rural Traditions of the Day of the Dead, Mexican Museum, San
Francisco, California and Fort Worth Museum of Art, Fort Worth, Texas
AWARDS AND GRANTS
2013 Open Society Foundation, Documentary Photography Project Audience Engagement Grant
2010 New York Foundation for the Arts, Artists' Fellowship
2008 University of Southern California, Annenberg Institute for Justice and Journalism
2006 Open Society Katrina Media Fellowship
2003 Konstnarsnamden Stipendium, Swedish Arts Council, Sweden
2003 Dart Center for Trauma and Journalism Ochberg Fellowship
2001 Pictures of the Year International, Missouri School of Journalism
1999 Open Society Justice Media Fellowship Fund for Investigative Journalism, Washington, D.C.
1998 The Rockefeller Foundation, USA/Mexico Fund for Culture New York Foundation for the Arts,
Artists' Fellowship
1997 California Council for the Humanities
1996 Pictures of the Year, National Press Photographers Association, Missouri School
of Journalism
1995 Konstnarsnamden Stipendium, Swedish Arts Council, Sweden
1994 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship
1993 Alicia Patterson Fellowship, Washington, D.C.
Mother Jones International Fund for Documentary Photography Konstnarsnamden
Stipendium, Swedish Arts Council, Sweden
1992 Fund for Investigative Journalism, Washington, D.C.
Pictures of the Year, National Press Photographers Association, Missouri School of
Journalism
1991 Konstnarsnamden Stipendium, Swedish Arts Council, Sweden
1990 Pictures of the Year, National Press Photographers Association, Missouri School
of Journalism
Swedish International Development Agency Stipendium, Sweden
1989 Konstnarsnamden Stipendium, Swedish Arts Council, Sweden
Documentary Photography of the Year, Cincinnati, Ohio
1988 New York Foundation for the Arts, Artists' Fellowship
SELECTED BOOKS
2020 LAPD 1994, The Artist Edition
TAXI: Journey Through My Windows 1977-1987, PowerHouse Books
2017 Spanish Harlen: El barrio in the ‘80s, PowerHouse Books
2012 A Humanist Gaze, Galerie Bene Taschen
2008 Still Here: Stories After Katrina, PowerHouse Books
2006 Flesh Life Sex in Mexico City, PowerHouse Books
2004 Juvenile, PowerHouse Books
1998 East Side Stories: Gang Life in East Los Angeles, PowerHouse Books
1997 Noorderlicht, The Garden of Eden, The Chain V, The Netherlands, 1997
1997 Respekt: A Reportage of Gangs and Their World in Los Angeles, DN Bokforlaget
1996 Centro de la Imagen, Fotoseptiembre, Mexico City, Mexico, 1996
1995 Spanish Harlem, „American Scene“ series, National Museum of American Art / D.A.P.Mother
18 August, 2022
ZEIT Verbrechen Nr. 16 "GOOD COP, BAD COP"
18 March, 2017
Cover "The Gangs of L.A."
EXTERNAL LINKS
Cologne, 2023
Cologne, 2021
Cologne, 2018
Cologne, 2013
GROUP EXHIBITION 2022
GOLD — TAXI 2020/21
5 YEARS, SIX ARTISTS
GROUP EXHIBITION 2019 / 2020
INSIGHTS
GROUP EXHIBITION 2017
PHOTOGRAPHY FROM 1978 - 2013
A STORY TO TELL
GOLD — TAXI
GALERIE BENE TASCHEN
Moltkestr. 81 • 50674 Cologne • Germany
Wed - Fri: 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Sat 11:00 am - 4:00 pm
or by appointment
GALERIE BENE TASCHEN
Lindenstr. 19 • 50674 Cologne • Germany
Fri: 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm
or by appointment
Phone +49 (0)221 1690 5505
GALERIE BENE TASCHEN
Moltkestr. 81 • 50674 Cologne • Germany
Wed - Fri: 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Sat 11:00 am - 4:00 pm
or by appointment
GALERIE BENE TASCHEN
Lindenstr. 19 • 50674 Cologne • Germany
Fri: 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm
or by appointment
Phone +49 (0)221 1690 5505