Making the invisible visible, those homeless people wandering or stagnating in our streets, in this case, those of Los Angeles: this is the mission that the Spanish-Swiss photographer Carlos Leal admirably accomplishes.

© Carlos Leal, Street Dreams, 2023 © Courtesy of Galerie Esther Woerdehoff

Far from documentary photography, his extremely refined and magnificently composed images have the force of a punch. Elliptical, they never show anything in an immodest way, but give clues allowing us to glimpse the dramas playing out on the sidewalks: here, a hand pressed against a black wall, there an abandoned cart filled with bags and old clothes; here, a cloud of black smoke which we learn comes from a pile of belongings burned by a homeless person in the middle of the highway, there, a man sitting against a wall, hidden under a shirt serving as a veil (Ghost in the city, 2022), another here, buried under a blanket in a wheelchair… So many ghosts that have become the protagonists of our urban tragedies.

Former rapper Carlos Leal of the group Sens Unik is fearless, yet he uses a poetic touch to reveal the dark side of the city that embodies all fantasies of social success. A true reflection of the illusory American dream, his gas station (titled Oil Temple) shines brightly in the dark night. A disturbing—and minimalist—chiaroscuro that speaks volumes about the anxieties of our modern world.

“CARLOS LEAL – FEARLESS”
ESTHER WOERDEHOFF GALLERY – 36, RUE FALGUIÈRE, PARIS 15E
UNTIL JULY 29, 2023
EWGALERIE.COM