Sophie Rivera: Performing Artist in New York

About Sophie Rivera

Sophie Rivera was a Puerto Rican–American artist and photographer whose work took shape in New York City’s Puerto Rican communities. An early member and instructor with En Foco, she helped build a platform for photographers working across diverse cultures and contemporary fine art. She is closely associated with her 1978 series *Nuyorican Portraits*, made as black-and-white images of neighbors photographed in her own home, where questions of identity and belonging are kept plain and specific. Her approach favors direct witness over spectacle.