# Bolivar Arellano

Bolivar Arellano (born 3 September, 1944 in Alausi, Chimborazo province, Ecuador) is an Ecuadorian-American photographer and former shop owner. He is mainly known for two things: his involvement with Puerto Rican boy band Menudo and the photos he took after the September 11 attacks in New York City.

## Biography

Arellano arrived in New York from Ecuador on 12 May, 1971. That same year, he met and had a photo taken with then former and future world heavyweight champion boxer Muhammad Ali. In 1974, he was hired by Spanish language newspaper El Diario La Prensa, where he worked at as a freelance photographer until 1993. Arellano had been a victim of persecution in Ecuador, where he ran afoul of the military. When he arrived in New York, he was helped by a friend back in Ecuador who was a reporter for The Associated Press and sent him a letter of introduction, which Arellano used to meet and hang out with English-speaking photographers. He was soon hired by El Diario, but while at that newspaper's offices, he noticed that they did not have a police scanner. Arellano bought one and soon, he was covering crime news for the paper as a photographer.
One of his first experiences in New York was witnessing the beating of a Young Lords gang member, a Puerto Rican independence advocate, by a policeman after the Puerto Rican had shouted "Long live free Puerto Rico!". Arellano credited that incident with helping him gain an affinity for Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans, which he kept for the rest of his life.
Many Latin politicians reached out to Arellano; one of them, Herman Badillo, told him that he and other Latin politicians were going to the White House to meet with President Jimmy Carter during a 1977 trip to Washington D.C. and asked Arellano if he wanted to come along. Arellano flew to Washington, D.C. and took photos of the president.
Eventually, Arellano worked for the Associated Press. He was sent to several countries in Central America and took photos of many things, including war, poverty and atrocities, such as the civil war and a massacre in El Salvador and unrest in Nicaragua, where he was abducted for three days by the Contras.
In 1986, Arellano became an American citizen.

### Menudo

By 1983, when Arellano was 39, he was living in New York with his wife, Brunilda. Arellano knew a man, Manolo "Manolito" Rodriguez, who was the New York City promoter both of Iris Chacon and of Menudo. The Arellanos were freelance photographers at the time and in February of that year, when Menudo was coming to New York for a concert, they decided to go to John F. Kennedy International Airport to photograph the group, but the large amount of fans there to welcome Menudo made it difficult for them to do so, so the Arellanos then went to the hotel where the group was going to stay at.
Thanks to their friend Rodriguez, the Arellanos gained access to the band and followed them for ten days as they stayed at the hotel, toured Central Park and did concerts. The pictures the Arellanos took of the band were for reselling and the couple placed an ad on a New York newspaper announcing that they had Menudo pictures for sale to fans, along with the Arellanos' phone number, and the next day after the ad was printed in the newspaper, the Arellanos received hundreds of phone calls by Menudo fans. This prompted Bolivar to come with an idea of traveling to Puerto Rico to get in contact with Menudo manager Edgardo Diaz.
Diaz gave the Arellanos permission to set a store in New York to sell Menudo merchandise. The Arellanos named the store Menuditis, which was a word used by reporters to describe the frenzy Menudo caused on their fans, like Beatlemania. The Arellanos started traveling to Puerto Rico for concerts, with all expenses paid by Diaz's record company, Padosa. The store was a success; and it was visited by such Menudo members as Ricky Martin, Ricky Melendez, Johnny Lozada, Sergio Gonzalez, Ruben Gomez, Roy Rossello, Charlie Masso, Ray Reyes, Raymond Acevedo, Robby Rosa and Miguel Cancel.
In 1991, Arellano returned to Puerto Rico, this time to testify about alleged abuses committed by Menudo management in a Carmen Jovet television show. Arellano alleged at Jovet's television show, "Controversial",that nine members of Menudo had been sexually assaulted while in the band. When asked by whom they had been assaulted, Arellano pointed at Diaz, Menudo lawyer Orlando Lopez and Menudo Panama's holding company owner, José Antonio Jimenez. Arellano was accompanied by former Menudo Ralphy Rodriguez at that show, during which the Puerto Rican police tried to intervene and shut it down.
Eventually, feeling bad by what allegedly happened at Menudo, Arellano decided to shut down his store. In 2023, Arellano spoke about his experiences with Menudo to the Telemundo channel.

### 1993 World Trade Center bombing

Arellano went to take photos of the World Trade Center after the attack on it in 1993.

### 9/11

Arellano arrived on "ground zero" on 11 September, 2001, in New York, to take pictures after American Airlines flight 11 had crashed onto the World Trade Center; he would later witness the crash of United Airlines flight 175 into the same place. According to Arellano, one of the worst things he saw was thirteen people jumping from the burning buildings after the crashes.
Arellano, who had originally been covering a political event on that morning, suffered a deep cut on his right knee after the collapse of the south tower that day; an injured Arellano was photographed by another photographer. Due to his injuries, Arellano required hospitalization. Seeing dead bodies and also people jumping off also caused him mental anguish that lasted for years.
Arellano was able to take a photo of the South Tower just after the United jet crashed on it.

## Exhibitions

Arellano has had his photos exhibited at various times, including in 1984 at the Museum of Modern Art.
In 2015, Arellano opened another exhibition, this time at Columbia University, which displays 20 of his black-and-white photos.

## Book

On 14 September, 2006, Arellano released a book with photos taken at Ground Zero, titled "September 11th: Through The Eyes of Photographer Bolivar Arellano".

## Personal life

Arellano married Brunilda Arellano.