Social Documentary Photographer Leba Marquez is the Edge of Humanity Magazine contributor of these photographs. From the series ‘All Around Los Angeles’. To see Leba’s body of work, click on any image.

Artist Statement:

OUR SHARED HUMANITY: CULTURE, COLOR, COMMUNITY

As a child, I eagerly awaited the next issue of Life Magazine. It was my window to a larger world. Page after page beguiled me with images of people from far-off places. Though I didn’t realize it at the time, these images would steer me toward cultural anthropology pursuits in college.

During my studies, I came across The Family of Man, a book published as a companion piece to the photographic exhibit of the same name curated by Edward Steichen.

The people were fascinating. To my delight, I discovered that while I looked, dressed, and lived differently than they did, I could still recognize myself in them.

“Different, different, yet the same,” -- as the saying goes.

It is the recognition of our common humanity that drives me as a photographer. My portraits of children and adults are often chance encounters. Building on a two-way trust where the subject reveals some truth, layers of pretense are removed to reveal a private face, an authentic soul. The resulting images capture the spontaneous energy of a special moment and, like a rock thrown into a pond with ever widening circles, divulge who we are through our clothes, food, homes, buildings, ceremonial, and religious objects. I view these everyday objects and rituals as a sacred part of our being; they paint an intimate portrait of the human family.

“Same, same, yet different.”

"Different, different, yet the same."

All images and text © Leba Marquez

See also:

Cultures and Their Colors

By Leba Marquez

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