John Betancourt
New York, USA, 1949
Biography Details
Photographer. Betancourt graduated from the University of Puerto Rico in 1971 with a double major in political science and urban geography. That year he began working as a photographer for the Puerto Rican Environmental Quality Board. During the seventies he worked as a teacher’s aid in New York at the Parsons School of Design, and at the New School for Social Research. He is the founder of several commercial and photographers’ organizations, such as Zoom Photographic and the Puerto Rican Council on Photography, and he has served as the director of Imaging Arts Puerto Rico. He has taught at several schools in Puerto Rico and abroad, worked in the Department of Images and Digital Resources at the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, and photographed the work of numerous artists, including Rafael Tufiño, Myrna Báez, and Rafael Trelles, for publications on their careers, in addition to countless catalogs for galleries and museums. More than as documentation, Betancourt is interested in exploring photography as an end in itself, and his preferred subjects are urban scenes and humans in their surroundings.
Artist Statement
“I don’t care about being an artist, except for photographer”
John Betancourt, 2006
Formation
Education
1967-1971
- Bachelor’s in Political Science and Urban Geography, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Professional Experience
Present
- Director/owner. Imaging Arts PR, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2006
- Photographer. Photographic documentation for the book “El Caballo en el Arte Puertorriqueño”, Puerto Rican Equestrian Art Foundation
2005
- Photographer. Photographic documentation for the book “Imagen y Palabra, Colección de la Universidad de Puerto Rico”, Museo de Historia, Antropología y Arte, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2004
- Photographer. Artist Rafael Trelles “En Concreto” Project, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2001-2005
- Department of Images and Digital Resources, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2002
- Photographer. Photographic documentation for the book “Rafael Tufiño Pintor del Pueblo”, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2001
- Photographer. Photographic documentation for the book “Los Tesoros del Arte Puertorriqueño”, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1992
- Photographer. Photographic documentation for the book “Luis Hernández Cruz”, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
N.d.
- Photography Instructor. Museo del Barrio, New York, United States
N.d.
- Photography Instructor. Casa Aboy, San Juan, Puerto Rico
N.d.
- Photography Instructor. Liga de Estudiantes de Arte, San Juan, Puerto Rico
N.d.
- Photography Instructor. Escuela de Artes Plásticas, San Juan, Puerto Rico
N.d.
- Founder. Consejo de Fotografía Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
N.d.
- Founder. Zoom Photographic, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1987
- Photographer. Photographic documentation for the book ‘Angel Botello Artista”, Galería Botello, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1975-1977
- Teacher’s Assistant. Photography Department, New School for Social Research, New York, United States
- Teacher’s Assistant. Parsons School of Design, New York, United States
1971
- Photographer. Junta de Calidad Ambiental, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Exhibitions
Solo Shows
1980’s
- Puerto Rico: calor, Museo del Barrio, New York, United States
Group Shows
2012
- Interconexiones, lecturas curatoriales de la colección del MAPR, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2011
- Arte en el medio: 35 años de fotografía en Puerto Rico, Antiguo Arsenal de la Marina Española, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2009
- Puerto Rico Geografía Humana, Imágenes del Siglo XXI, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2007
- Contexto puertorriqueño: del rococó colonial al arte global, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
2002
- La fotografía como concepto, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Collections
- Hotel Westin Rio Mar, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico
- Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Shell Corporation, Puerto Rico