Bolivar Arellano

Bolivar Arellano (born 3 September, 1944 in Alausi, Chimborazo Province, Ecuador) is an Ecuadorian-American photographer and former shop owner. He photographed the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo and took photos during the September 11 attacks in New York City.

Career Arellano arrived in New York from Ecuador on 12 May, 1971. That same year, he met and had a photo taken with Muhammad Ali, then a former and future two-time world heavyweight champion boxer. In 1974, he was hired by Spanish language newspaper El Diario La Prensa, where he worked at as a freelance photographer until 1993. Arellano had been a victim of persecution in Ecuador, where he ran afoul of the military. When he arrived in New York, he was helped by a friend back in Ecuador who was a reporter for The Associated Press and sent him a letter of introduction, which Arellano used to meet and hang out with English-speaking photographers. He was soon hired by El Diario, but while at that newspaper's offices, he noticed that they did not have a police scanner. Arellano bought one and soon, he was covering crime news for the paper as a photographer.

One of his first experiences in New York was witnessing the beating of a member of the Young Lords, a Puerto Rican independence political organization, by a policeman after the member had shouted "Long live free Puerto Rico!" Arellano credited that incident with helping him gain an affinity for Puerto Rico and its people, which he kept for the rest of his life.

Many Latin politicians reached out to Arellano; one of them, Herman Badillo, told him that he and other Latin politicians were going to the White House to meet with President Jimmy Carter during a 1977 trip to Washington D.C. and asked Arellano if he wanted to come along. Arellano flew to Washington, D.C. and took photos of the president.

In 1986, Arellano became an American citizen.

Menudo By 1983, at the age of 39, he was living in New York with his wife, Brunilda. Arellano knew, Manolo "Manolito" Rodriguez, who was the New York City promoter both of Iris Chacon and of Menudo. The Arellanos were freelance photographers at the time and in February of that year, when Menudo was coming to New York for a concert, they went to John F. Kennedy International Airport to photograph the group, but the large number of fans there to welcome Menudo made it difficult for them to do so. So the Arellanos then went to the hotel where the group was going to stay at. Arellano alleged at Jovet's television show, "Controversial," that nine members of Menudo had been sexually assaulted while in the band. When asked by whom they had been assaulted, Arellano pointed at Diaz, Menudo lawyer Orlando Lopez and Menudo Panama's holding company owner, José Antonio Jimenez. Arellano was accompanied by former Menudo Ralphy Rodriguez at that show, during which the Puerto Rican police tried to intervene and shut it down.

Eventually, feeling bad by what allegedly happened at Menudo, Arellano decided to shut down his store. In 2023, Arellano spoke about his experiences with Menudo to the Telemundo channel.

1993 World Trade Center bombing Arellano took photos of the World Trade Center after the attack on it in 1993.

Arellano, who had originally been covering a political event on that morning, suffered a deep cut on his right knee after the collapse of the south tower that day; he was photographed by Matthew McDermott, another photographer. Due to his injuries, Arellano required hospitalization. Seeing dead bodies and also people jumping off also caused him mental anguish that lasted for years.

Arellano took a photo of the South Tower just after the United jet crashed into it.

Exhibitions Arellano has had his photos exhibited at various times, including in 1984 at the Museum of Modern Art.

In 1997, Arellano opened the Bolivar Arellano Gallery in the East Village of New York City. After 10 years of operation, the gallery closed its doors on September 30, 2007.

Book On 12 September, 2006, Arellano released a book with photos taken at Ground Zero, titled "September 11th: Through The Eyes of Photographer Bolivar Arellano."