“Can you spare a dollar?”“Yeah. You wanna take a picture?”“Ok, sure.”“Great. What’s your favorite thing about yourself?”“Even though it can be hard being on the streets I always try to be nice to people.” … Read More

“When I was 16 I started to have a lot of health problems. They discovered a large lump in me and at first I spent a lot of time being angry and wondering why it was happening to me but I learned a lot. I learned who my real friends were. I learned that no matter how bad you have it someone always… Read More

“What’s one of your favorite books?”“It’s so cliche but Pride and Prejudice. It’s the ultimate romantic comedy but was written hundreds of years ago. It has the most detailed sides about characters so you can picture them. Whenever I’m sad that’s my go to.”… Read More

Right – “After we spent the weekend together I just knew. I texted him and said ‘I think I’m gonna marry you’ but I never heard back from him until that Friday. When I saw him he acted like nothing had happened and I was like ‘Did you get my text?’ He said he did but he felt scared. I asked him why… Read More

Right – “We met one night at a mutual friend’s party and right away I thought he was cute. We all ended up going to a bar and I went to go talk to him and he was polite, but I couldn’t really tell if he was interested or not. I was like ‘whatever’ but then when I started dancing he came up… Read More

“Do you wanna take a portrait?”“Well okay, but I feel like my eyes look pretty sad.”“Do you feel sad?”“I’m okay.”“Your eyes don’t look sad to me, they look bright.”“Yeah well…I’m pretty happy. I woke up today.”… Read More

“I’ve been on the streets 13 years just cause there was no work available.”“I hear you. What do you feel your purpose is?”“In life? I don’t really have one, I just want to have a good time.”… Read More

“The neighborhood I do my photography in is a pretty rough neighborhood. People ask me if I’m scared going up there. I tell them ‘No, I’m a revolutionary. I choose to love the people instead of fear them.’ Anytime you choose love over fear that’s a revolutionary act.”… Read More

“I’ve been shooting street portraits in Harlem on 125th and Lexington for the last 4 years. I used to go up that way to go to the library and get knowledge but then I got interested in the people. It’s a kind of therapy for me. I made a film about the block called ‘Field Niggas’. The response has been mostly positive except… Read More

“Who’s been the biggest influence on your personal and creative development?”“My mom. She’s the Mexican Martha Stewart. When we were younger, since we didn’t have a lot of money, she would take us to Michaels and we would pick up stuff to make for the week. That would be our entertainment. I’m so glad I grew up poor. It taught me how… Read More

“What’s your favorite thing about yourself?”“How loving I am. I love that. I don’t hold back on the amount of love that’s inside of me and I give it out like candy. Before it used to be like ‘Why are you so loving and emotional?’ but now I know that makes me awesome…I don’t know why I’m crying. I’m always crying.”… Read More

“How’s you relationship with your parents?”“I’m extremely close with my mom. I have a better relationship with my dad now.”“Since you feel like they gave up their dreams for you to have greater freedom what kind of dynamic does that create between you?”“I feel like every choice I make has to be the right choice because I cannot let my… Read More

“I came to America from Mexico when I was 5 because my parents wanted to give me a better life. I don’t take anything for granted. I think everything is a blessing. I’m constantly reminded of where I came from and what my parents do. The jobs they have is not necessarily what they wanted, my mom is a house cleaner for a… Read More

“I was a weird kid. I used to get made fun of for my creativity because I would show up to parties in homemade costumes. Kids would bully me a lot because I wouldn’t buy the store made costumes. What made me strange before sets me apart now. I learned to embrace that. I’m glad I never stopped creating because people thought it… Read More

“I’m a creative. I have a youtube channel that just went over one million views. I teach people how to make costumes, jewelry, clothes. I also dabble in creating decorations for events: birthdays, bridal showers, baby showers, weddings, backgrounds, and costumes for people. It’s a lot of different things. Sometimes I can’t even keep up with my own head.”“How would you describe… Read More

“What’s one of your favorite things about yourself?”“I’m fun. I’m not afraid to be myself. And I know how to have a good time!”… Read More

“If you could go back and give your 33 year old self a piece of advice what would it be?”“Don’t be so serious. Enjoy life. Take every pleasure and enjoy it.”… Read More

“I’m passionate about serving families that have sick kids in the hospital. I work for the Ronald McDonald House.”“What inspired you to get involved in that line of work?”“I had a son who with childhood cancer back in 1984, I learned a whole lot about that process then.”“Is there one particular case that was especially challenging or rewarding?”“They’re all… Read More

“What’s one of your favorite things about her?”Her – “I’m practical.”Him – “And I’m theoretical so I think the opposites get on in that way. I like so many things about her it’s hard to say-“Her – “How I fell for him…I was drunk as a skunk and I liked his shoes. Then I worked my way up from his… Read More

“We’re from New Zealand on holiday. We’ve been together 4 years and from the minute we met we’ve been putting $50 in an account each week for this trip. We went from Auckland, New Zealand to Singapore to Barcelona to France to Pisa to Florence to Turkey to Athens to Venice to London to San Francisco, and tomorrow we go back home.”… Read More

“What are you getting into later?”“Ah man, right now I’m just trying to go up here to get a hamburger. For me it’s just one thing at a time.”… Read More

“Hey man, do you have one dollar you could spare?”“If I have a dollar it’s yours…there you go. How you doin today?”“I’m alright. My day’s just starting. This a good start though.”… Read More

“How was your festival?”“I experienced magic this weekend. I felt it. I bathed in it. I breathed it. Most importantly, I learned from it. I wondered and I wandered. I recognized people I knew in the faces of strangers I never met. I laughed from a familiar place within me that I neglected for so long that it almost felt foreign. I… Read More

“Have you had any breakthroughs at the festival?”“I realized I don’t need to be working out all the time. I can gain some pounds and it’s okay. I teach yoga for a living and there’s all this pressure on women to be thin…I feed into that by not accepting that my body wants to be bigger.”“What was it that made you… Read More