Sleeping on Broadway

Alveraz Ricardez captured this photo in downtown Los Angeles, a place he shoots in frequently with the goal of telling stories that illustrate the changing landscape of the neighborhood.

“There’s a broad socio-economic landscape in downtown: from the homeless to the wealthy bankers,” he said. “It’s a fascinating time in this area.”

Last month, Ricardez was shooting on Broadway when he spotted a pedestrian with a cowboy hat -- an item he looks for regularly when shooting -- walking toward another man who lay asleep in his wheelchair. Ricardez quickly ran across the street to position himself, and just as the pedestrian passed the man in the chair, he snapped a photo.

“For me the image reflects the indifference most of the pedestrians in downtown carry with them as they walk from one place to the next,” he said.

Fortunately, not everyone is indifferent, Ricardez says. Immediately after he shot the photo, a stranger came up to the man in the wheelchair and propped him up in his chair.

Ricardez used a Fujifilm XT1 camera with a 27mm lens to make this image on Jan. 13.

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