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In this day and age when digital cameras cost less than a pair of Jordans and phones have built in cameras the photographic documentation of future generations will never be considered groundbreaking ever again. But if you rewind back to the ‘70s you'd realize that everything about Joe Conzo's photography was pioneering, including his eye, which captured the beauty in everything from a flipped over fire hydrant to burnt out tenements. Scenes which made our neighborhoods look as if the city had dropped bombs on us and never looked back to witness the destruction.

Conzo picked up photography at the age of 10, while attending private school, and once he was introduced to the art by his stepfather, young Joe never left home without his camera. A camera which went on to capture some of the rarest photographs in existence, from the earliest hip-hop pioneers like the Cold Crush Brothers, Kool Moe Dee and Afrika Bambaataa, to the formative days of salsa capturing Hector Lavoe, Tito Puente and Celia Cruz.

In addition to capturing the birth of these movements, Conzo visually documented political rallies going on in NYC; in particular the street's reaction when the movie Fort Apache, the Bronx hit theatres. One photograph captures a young girl with an angry scowl on her face holding a sign that reads, "Fort Apache is an Anti-Black Anti-Puerto Rican Movie." If the photo could speak it would say that we no longer wanted to be stereotyped as animals.

Prior to interviewing Conzo I wondered if his political views were inherited from his grandmother, Evelina Lopez Antonetty, known as the "Hell Lady of the Bronx." He offered this about his abuela. "She influenced my life period. And that in turn influenced the way I photographed the world and view it through the camera lens... She cared about how people were treated and respected [them] no matter what color they were. In turn I cared about how I treated people when I photographed them."

A testament to Conzo's words would be a conversation I had with Lynx Garcia the day after his book release party. Garcia missed the event due to business but shared, "Before I ever knew Conzo personally he always treated me with respect. While other photographers rudely shooed me away from pictures because of my weight, Joe always said, ‘Get in the picture love... your beautiful.' He always treated me with love and respect and I appreciate him so much for that. He's a beautiful person with a big heart."

When I asked Conzo if he saw the hip-hop culture growing into the global phenomenon that it is today he went on to say, "I had no idea. I thought it was just a fad, something that comes and goes. I had no idea 35 years later I'd be traveling the world doing exhibits."

When Conzo was introduced to Johan Kugelberg four years ago, Kugelberg likened his pictures to the lost Dead Sea scrolls and called the shutterbug's work the missing link. He promised to turn his work into a traveling exhibition and book, a promise he kept as the curator of Born in The Bronx: A Visual Record of the Early Days of Hip Hop, which traveled the world exposing Conzo's work to the masses.

But just prior to his newfound fame as a photographic innovator he'd have to survive the deadliest attack on American soil. As a veteran EMT for the FDNY he raced to the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 to save lives, but moments after Tower Two came down he found himself buried alive under what remained of the Marriot Hotel.

Although he dug himself out and survived physically, it took him two years to recover from the survivor's guilt that had done untold damage to his psyche. The finality of therapy sessions brought Conzo to the realization that he survived for a reason, he had something to share with the world, that something is his book, Born in the Bronx.

The imagery in the book provides a visual trek back in time that allows one to experience the streets and clubs of the South Bronx a decade before the mainstream discovered its magic.

Born in the Bronx is unquestionably an in-depth glance of what it was like to grow up in a world where creativity was king because there was nothing left after the great white escape... so you created your own. Without Conzo there to capture our history, we never would have been able to prove to the world that we were there.

When I asked Conzo what his next stop in life was he simply stated, "To continue being a humble, down-to-Earth person. I can't keep the blessings I have unless I share them with other people. As long as people want to see my work, I'll continue sharing it."

For more on Ivan Sanchez visit his [Sí] profile.