This weekend marked the opening of the Bronx Documentary Center, a new gallery and educational space in Melrose showcasing works of photography, film and multimedia.

The center’s first exhibit, titled “Visions: Tim Hetherington,” is a personal one, featuring a series of photos by Hetherington, an acclaimed photojournalist who was killed in April while covering the conflict in Libya.

Bronx Documentary Center founder Michael Kamber, a distinguished photographer for the New York Times who owns and lives in the landmarked South Bronx building where the gallery is housed, was a close friend of Hetherington’s. In the Times’ “Lens” blog, Kamber writes that the two had mused about opening such a space in the months before Hetherington’s death.

“This would be a place, we decided, that was focused not on wealthy collectors, but on disseminating photojournalism and multimedia to the youth and residents of New York City,” Kamper writes. “‘Look at this neighborhood,’ Tim marveled, as crowds of kids walked home from school speaking mixtures of English, Spanish, French and Wolof. The Bronx reminded Tim of all the places he’d worked around the world.”

“Visions” will be on display until Dec. 2. The Bronx Documentary Center, located at 614 Courtlandt Ave., is open Wednesdays through Sundays, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. More info here.

To see more photos from this weekend’s opening, check out photographer Adi Talwar’s slideshow here.

–Jeanmarie Evelly

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