Sophie Rivera

Sophie Rivera (June 1938 – May 22, 2021) was an American artist and photographer of Puerto Rican-American descent. She was also an early member and instructor of En Foco, a not-for-profit organisation centred on contemporary fine art and photographers of diverse cultures. Rivera is best known for her 1978 photography series Nuyorican Portraits. Redefining Puerto Rican identity in the United States, the series included 50 black and white portraits taken in her home of Puerto Ricans in her neighbourhood.

Biography Rivera was born in 1938 in The Bronx, New York. She attended the New School for Social Research and Apeiron Workshops in Millerton, New York. Rivera's work included activism and teaching especially in her famous photography, the 1978 series Nuyorican Portraits. An early member and instructor of En Foco, Rivera later joined their board of advisors. Rivera also worked as a curator, and ran a photography gallery. She died on May 22, 2021.

Artworks Rouge et Noir (Red and Black) 1977-1978, included five coloured photographs capturing used tampons in a toilet bowl. Bowl Study, 1977–1978, included four black and white photographs of her own faces. Created during the same period, both series captured bodily fluids in a toilet bowl. Created to deconstruct the female body and taboo topics, Rivera's series was later followed with self-portrait, a black and white photograph capturing her crouched, naked body over a toilet bowl. Her most famous series, six pieces from the collection were presented at the Yankee Stadium on December 14, 1989, in an exhibition titled Revelations: A Latino Portfolio. Subsequently, 36 of the fifty photographs were destroyed in studio fire.

Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art (2013-2014) Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art was presented by the Smithsonian American Art Museum and incorporated works from a diverse range of Latino artists. The works presented American culture as the holder of a diverse network of Latinos and conveyed the influence Latinos have had on American culture through their art. Two of Rivera's Nuyorican portraits was included in this exhibition. These portraits demonstrated that Latinos are not bystanders of the American culture and are instead helping build it. The Smithsonian American Art Museum now holds two photographs from the Nuyorican Portraits.

The ’70s Lens: Reimagining Documentary Photography (2024-2025) The ’70s Lens: Reimagining Documentary Photography was presented by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D. C. and included photographers whose work changed documentary photography and showed communities in a way that had been done before. Rivera was also featured in the Gallery's online feature 12 Documentary Photographers Who Changed the Way We See the World. The National Gallery owns several of Rivera's Nuyorican portraits in addition to other of Rivera's works.

Awards New York Foundation for the Arts Award in Photography 1988-1989