We all we got: Shining a light on youth violence
Photographer Carlos Javier Ortiz uses his lens to illuminate the great tragedy of urban America
Englewood, Chicago, 2008: More than 50 friends and family members of Albert Vaughn gather at a memorial service for the slain teenager. "Lil Al" was known as a neighborhood guardian, the older teen who played ball with the younger kids
(Carlos Javier Ortiz) From 2006 through 2013, Ortiz met with families who had lost young relatives to violence, and followed teenagers who had never set foot outside the boundaries
Near Sourth Side, Chicago, 2006: Chicago's lakefront is a popular hangout for many of the city's residents each summer. But many young people never leave the confines of their neighborhoods, let alone reach the beaches lining the lake.
(Carlos Javier Ortiz)
Gage Park, Chicago, 2009: A child looks on at burn marks left after officials removed the body of 15-year-old Alex Arellano. Teenagers from Chicago gang the Latin Kings stopped Arellano as he walked to a birthday party and demanded he
(Carlos Javier Ortiz)"My students are not inherently oppositional or rebellious people," Chicago high school teacher Luke Anderson writes in an essay for the book. "However, they have interna
Englewood, Chicago, 2008: Girls dance during a block party held in memory of Starkeisha Reed, 14, and Siretha White, 10. The two girls were killed days apart in March 2006. Reed was killed in her living room by a stray bullet. White wa
(Carlos Javier Ortiz)
Englewood, Chicago, 2008: Family members gather around Albert Vaughn's coffin to say their goodbyes.
(Carlos Javier Ortiz)
Auburn Gresham, Chicago, 2013: Members of St. Sabina Church pray to for an end to the violence that plagues their neighborhood. More than 40 young people have been killed in Auburn Gresham since 2006.
(Carlos Javier Ortiz) Through all the sadness and anger — and there is plenty of that — Ortiz also found glimmers of hope. The photographer captured a brother's love, a communi
Auburn Gresham, Chicago, 2013: A boy flips off a trampoline during a block party.
(Carlos Javier Ortiz)
Washington Park, Chicago, 2013: The Bud Billiken parade, the oldest African-American parade in the country, kicks off the new school year and celebrates black life in Chicago.
(Carlos Javier Ortiz) **We All We Got is on view at the Bronx Documentary Center through March 22, 2015**
