JETT LARA, A PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER WHO TRAVELS ALONE IN DTLA
If you’re in downtown LA and a man on his bike approaches you with an album full of portraits of “weird people,” that’s probably Jett Lara.
Lara is a self-taught photographer in downtown LA. He embarked on his photographic journey back in 2013 while he was a sushi chef in Victorville, California. Starting with just his phone, he often took trips to Los Angeles, capturing a diverse array of subjects including landscapes, street scenes, candid portraits, and spontaneous snapshots. However, it was during the pandemic that Lara's distinctive style took shape, driven by a compelling realization. “I couldn’t photograph people with masks, because if you cover your face, that’s a good great deal of the human emotions. I started to approach people a lot more, and I asked them if they could take off their masks and pose for the camera.”
This shift marked a pivotal moment in Lara's artistic evolution as he forged connections with his subjects, steering his focus toward the art of portraiture. Within these portraits lies a narrative depth—an intentional arrangement where his subjects are posed to express their essence and individuality. Lara's photographs transcend mere images; they are encapsulated stories waiting to be explored, inviting the viewer into the intriguing tapestry of each subject's life, sparking an insatiable curiosity to unravel their unique tales.
Within Lara's album, the kaleidoscope of downtown LA's diversity unfolded. His subjects range from innocent children to people doing unknown illegal things, a spectrum that he asserted without judgment. “I don’t judge,” he later told me, “I’m just there to take pictures”
Lara's visual aspiration embodies an insatiable curiosity that ignites a similar fervor within viewers. As a portraitist, his pursuit transcends conventional aesthetics, delving into the intricacies and profundities of those he encounters in his urban odyssey. "In my photographs, I'm primarily driven by my curiosity, by things that people tend to avoid seeing." His acute perceptiveness and artistic judgment conspire to capture portraits that amplify the uniqueness and inner beauty of his subjects. With a humanitarian gaze, his lens unveils the unexplored facets of the cityscape where everyone is strangers to each other, coaxing people like myself to earnestly say, "Wow, that's truly beautiful."
I first met Lara when he approached me (like he always does to his subjects) as I was doing street photography in the Arts District in LA. He first greeted me, then showed me a photo album – which I later know as a family album – that included portraits of many “weird but cool people.” As he flipped through the photos, my skepticism about him, a stranger who approached a girl walking alone, turned into fascination. His photographs are each telling someone’s story that I’m curious to learn more about.
After several “wow”s, I pointed at one photo and said, “I love this one!” It’s a photo of a man on the pier with a fishing rod, casting it down into the water. The photo was taken at night time, which captured the background of the sunset blending with darkness with great lighting on the angler in action. The juxtaposition of sunset and darkness, deftly illuminated, lent the composition a striking simplicity that elevated the solitary figure. Lara took the printout and gave it to me, which I still keep on my desk.
His recollection of the stories behind each photograph was staggering. I asked him to show some of his photos and tell the story behind it if he remembers. I never expected him to share every photo in his album, but I knew he could go on if I didn't disturb him. He’d begin with “I took this photograph at…” or “I met this person who…” and go on to talk about who they are, what they do, why they are in LA, or what their story is, revealing a rich tapestry of lives intersecting in his visual chronicle. He is a portrait photographer and an artist, but he is also playing the role of a documentary photographer and an explorer.
Compared to when he just moved to LA for photography and worked for food delivery to make a living, Lara now receives assignments and works as a freelancer. The LA Times invited him as a photographer, and Lara really began to see the outcomes of his efforts.
Lara talked about a man named Theophilus, who always wears tank tops with Bible verses printed on them. “He always tells me that he copyrighted the Bible so he has the rights to them,” Lara said and added, “I know he doesn’t.”
For him, photography transcends mere imagery; it's a conduit to manifest the world as perceived. “Photography is just a means for me to materialize what I see in the picture. Being able to beautify your world through seeing, that’s rewarding itself.” However, not everyone resonates with his approach. Certain friends and family members occasionally query his fascination with photographing strangers, labeling them as “freaks.”
Yet, amidst skepticisms, his dedication and artistic prowess draw admiration from many. His wife stands as a pillar of support, firmly believing Lara's artistry will be recognized some day.
“My mom once saw a bunch of my pictures and asked me ‘Why are you taking pictures of strangers?’ And I had no answers to her at that time. But I feel like I do now. I just really want to push and see how far [photography] can take me, I just try to control what I can and do it at my very best. And if it takes me somewhere else like a traveling photographer or someone that does assignments and makes a living out of it, yeah then so be it.”
Lily Wang