Alvin Baltrop (b. 1948, Bronx, New York) was an American Black photographer whose work focused on the dilapidated Hudson River piers during the 1970s and 1980s prior to the AIDS crisis. Critic Douglas Crimp writes: “He risked much to work there. In order to spend more time at the piers, he gave up his job as a taxi driver and became a self-employed mover. Often he stayed for days on end, living out of his moving van parked nearby. In spite of the remarkable documentary and aesthetic value of what he accomplished, Baltrop was almost completely unsuccessful at getting his work exhibited during his lifetime.”
