VIRGILIO CARBALLO
80
I am originally from the town of Caguas, Puerto Rico where I was born on February 10, 1940. My parents, brother and I moved to the east Bronx on Washington Avenue and 182nd Street. During my senior year at Theodore Roosevelt High School on Fordham Road, I worked as a page boy at a law firm down on Wall Street. As a youngster, I held a variety of jobs before serving in the army from 1963 until 1965. I worked at a deli, at a shoe shine, at a Western Union delivering telegrams, and as a distribution clerk with three different companies, filling clothing orders for their respective stores. From 1960 to 1962, I worked at a cigarette manufacturing company that had me test the flavor of newer brand releases even though I didn’t smoke. After serving in the army, I held more jobs with First National City Bank, the United States Post Office, the New York City Conventions and Visitors Bureau, Bankers’ Trust, LaGuardia Airport, Castle Check Cashing Corporation and a check cashing business we now know as Pay-O Matic. I even drove a yellow taxi.
I have been married twice, and remained with my second wife until her passing in 2019. I have three children from my first marriage, two daughters and a son. Now that I am retired, I am a grandfather to five beautiful children, and enjoy music and working as a cab driver in my spare time.
Being a people person, I like to photograph people going about their daily lives because you never run out of models. My interest in photography started in the 60s just before I was drafted by the army. I didn’t necessarily consider myself a shutterbug then, but I did enjoy taking photos. My favorite thing about photography is that we get to stop time in a way. Years later, we can look at the photos I took and go back to that time and place, even if just for a moment.
COVID-19 has been a real drag, so listening to music and taking photographs have been my escape hatch to happier times. Reading and arranging things, discarding things I haven’t used in years, rearranging photo albums from times past, calling people I haven't spoken with in ages, learning how to cook and keep a tidy house... this is how I have spent my time during the pandemic. I am an extroverted introvert and in a way, this has helped me cope. I have to be myself because everybody else is taken.
PERSONAL PROJECT: THE PART-TIME TAXI DRIVER
A view of Lincoln Center from my cab, New York, New York, 2020.
On my way to pick up my face mask, New York, New York, 2020.
Passing the Metropolitan Museum of Art in my cab, New York, New York, 2019.
Taxi parking lot, New York, New York, 2019.
View of the Dizzy's Club from my cab, Columbus Circle, New York, December 2019.
Cityscape from my cab, New York, December 2019.
New York City at night, 2020.
DOCUMENTARY WORK
Visiting the Museum of Natural History with my grandchild, New York, December 2019.
View from New York City bus window, February 2020.
A passenger on a New York City bus looks at her cellphone, December 2019.
View from city bus of a man on a street in New York City, 2020.
My living room in Bronx, New York, May 2020.
COVID-19 PROJECT
During the COVID-19 global pandemic, students documented their experience with physical distancing and self-quarantine. As we had no access to their cameras, they used their mobile phones to capture the constant changes they faced, both positive and negative.
Women wait in line to receive free face masks, Bronx, New York 2020.
A list of things to remember for COVID-19, Bronx, New York, 2020.
Ready for battle against COVID-19 with hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, and masks, Bronx, New York, 2020.
Cleaning my mask and gloves in the bathtub after a trip outside, Bronx, New York, 2020.
My BSPL writing assignment. The way I escape, Bronx, New York, 2020.
Time to learn something new with The Taste of Home Cookbook, Bronx, New York, 2020.
Responsible young person wears a professional face mask to protect himself from COVID-19, Bronx, New York, 2020.
Free face mask distribution site in Bronx, New York, 2020.
Discarded face mask in Bronx, New York, 2020.
Time to relax by fixing myself a cocktail, Bronx, New York, 2020.
Self-portrait before I listen to my vintage records and travel back in time musically, Bronx, New York, 2020.
A vintage photo of my beloved wife, who will forever be on my mind, Bronx, New York, 2020.
Hoping I will wake up from this nightmare, Bronx, New York, 2020.