South Bronx 1982-4

In the mid-1970s, an economic down turn combined with complex social and political pressures caused the gradual decline of the South Bronx. By the 1980s, crime, middle-class exodus, fires, and the lack of public services had taken their toll-little was left standing. The photographs Ray Mortenson took during this time were intended to present an objective, wide-ranging survey of the devastated urban landscape.