A street photographer based out of Los Angeles, John Kayacan presents snippets of his long-term, self-assigned photographic project on the lesser-known facets of LA life.
The series was shot from late 2016 to 2019. In the duration of these 3 years, Kayacan amassed a stunning visual portfolio of one of the world’s most beautiful cities and people. “I wanted to change the conventional perspectives on street photography as a whole, using bold colors and focused compositions with my hometown of Los Angeles as the backdrop,” the photographer explains.
Suffused in cinematic hues, dramatically vignetted by shadows or out-of-focus edges, Kayacan immortalizes snippets of real life in a single frame. Away from the glitz, glamour and excess of Hollywood, he tells the stories of ordinary Angelenos. His narratives are powerful, spurning a debate on what’s happening outside the frame. In one image, a couple dances away in a fast-food outlet; in another, a man stands casually, undisturbed by lines of drying blood streaked across his face and arms. Without context, he inspires the viewer to form stories around these shots, which the viewer gladly does. And if that isn’t a mark of compelling photography, then we don’t know what is.
Fascinated with photography since he picked up a camera at age 14, Kayacan studied and graduated from the California Institute of The Arts. His project, which he started during his second year here, was a way to define his style through a medium he had always loved. “This work is about growth and patience,” he says. “It’s about finally finding a voice using both a camera and an environment that has surrounded me my whole life.”
Find him on Instagram.
Photography © John Kayacan
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