Juan Alaniz


Juan Alaniz

Juan Alaniz
Artist Statement
My mother was my inspiration and motivation in life. After she passed away in a car accident, I was left with a void.
I turned to photography as a distraction of my daily routine in life.
Photography has given me an opportunity to document and preserve the memories of our daily lives.
I capture and document love, happiness, hate, surprise, anger, loneliness, joy and passion.
I believe "to remember is to live" and that through my work I can reach out to people by bringing a smile or even a tear to their face. Furthermore, allowing them to relive the joy of "remembering".
On my series "Los olvidados" (the forgotten ones),
I head out to the streets of Los Angeles, California. As I capture people living on sidewalks, using cardboard as blankets and shopping carts as storage, I want to let the world know that these are people in need. They are human.
People living in the streets are hopeless, useless, and often in fear for their lives. At some point, their lives got diverted to the obscure life of the streets. They’re in desperate need of a smile, a helping hand, a warm bed, a secure shelter. Unfortunately, they have been forgotten. They range from infants, teens, young and old. There is no age just a face without a name.


Juan Alaniz