At once bold and gentle, colourful and bleak, glittering and fierce, this is an ode to the heart of Harlem.In a captivating collection of images taken on the streets of New York's forgotten suburbs, Ruben Natal-San Miguel celebrates the fierce character of districts that have yet to be gentrified.Each shot is coated in colour and salutes the artistic, untouched character of the people.Puerto Rican by birth, Natal-San Miguel, an architect and photographer, fell in love with New York City when he moved there to study in the 1980s.He became enraptured by the world-class art scene, and saved for months doing catering jobs until he could afford to buy one of the Andy Warhol silk screens hanging in a gallery's shop window.But after the 9/11 attacks, he discovered another invaluable artwork just around the corner: the streets of Harlem.He moved from his city-centre high rise to the notorious suburb because, to him, it felt safer.It was a move that would inspire a shining photography career.Depicting the everyday activities and traditions of the less-off New Yorkers, Natal-San Miguel has produced hundreds of bewitching images that throw a new artistic slant on patriotism.And he has been applauded for collecting money for the local community using his blog and work with a movement of pop-up artists in the area, Art IN FLUX.His latest series, Capturing Colorful, Enchanting, and Sassy New York, is part of an exhibition called Nothing Is Colorproof, which opens on December 3 in Aloft Hotel, Harlem, New York.His work can be viewed alongside six other artists that deal with social dilemmas at Scratch DJ Academy in New York until January 3, 2014.(dailymail.co.uk)ANN.Az