Javier Alvarez

Photographer

www.javieralvarezm.com/

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Location: Brooklyn

Nationality: Chilean

Biography: hola@javieralvarezm.com 1-303-746-0504 Brooklyn, NY / Santiago, Chile. Javier Álvarez is a Chilean documentary photographer focused on social issues. After pursuing a BFA in Photography, Javier worked as a freelance editorial and... MORE

A woman walks over to Manhattan...gest city in the United States.

A woman walks over to Manhattan's almost empty WTC PATCH train station. During the first days of the pandemic, the governor of the State of New York, Andrew Cuomo, declared a state of emergency, paralyzing the biggest city in the United States.

Jaciel, a Mexican citizen livin... to support his family of four.

Jaciel, a Mexican citizen living in NY for over 11 years, works as a food delivery biker for restaurants and third parties apps. He has not stopped working since the beginning of the pandemic, to support his family of four.

Jaciel delivers a package with ...r gets involved in an accident.

Jaciel delivers a package with food to a client in a Downtown Manhattan apartment. Alongside medical staff and transportation workers, the food industry is also considered as a first necessity activity, but the precarious conditions given by the delivery apps companies don´t provide even minimal protection, equipment or social security in case he gets sick or gets involved in an accident.

A magnetic portrait of one of J...ds, because I'm afraid.

A magnetic portrait of one of Jaciel's kids with a note of support. While the entire city was locked down for the pandemic, Jaciel worked 8 to 10 hours daily, exposed to the risk of bringing the virus home. He explains in an interview that: 'the most challenging part of all this is not being able to hug or touch my kids, because I'm afraid.

Jaciel waits for towels and cle...e waiting for him to go to bed.

Jaciel waits for towels and clean clothes while he is about to shower after a day of work. Only after disinfecting his equipment and clothes, Jaciel can touch his kids back to say hello, who are waiting for him to go to bed.

Jaciel biking over an empty Mid... like in a videogame.'.

Jaciel biking over an empty Midtown Manhattan intersection during the lockdown in New York. He explains in an interview: 'For me as a cyclist, being able to use the city this empty, felt like a privilege, almost like in a videogame.'.

Carlos, an Uruguayan food deliv...aurant or the mobile food apps.

Carlos, an Uruguayan food delivery worker, entering a building in Wall Street, Manhattan. Carlos lives as an illegal immigrant in the state of New Jersey and commutes every day to work for an Italian restaurant, with almost zero protection either from the restaurant or the mobile food apps.

Interior view from an empty Ful...erve about 300.000 users a day.

Interior view from an empty Fulton Station in Manhattan, that on a normal basis would serve about 300.000 users a day.

View of the interior of a resta...ers, many of them undocumented.

View of the interior of a restaurant in Downtown Manhattan. The food industry, during the first months of the pandemic, has survived basically only by deliveries, revealing the unequally and unprotection towards the food delivery workers, many of them undocumented.

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Private Story

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Copyright Javier Alvarez 2024

Updated Sep 2022

Location new york

Topics Documentary, Mixed Medium, Photography, Portraiture, Spotlight

Food delivery workers are an essential part of the service chain that keeps New York City on movement. During the first months of the pandemic, most of them were still active while risking their lives being exposed to elevators, buildings, or restaurants picking up or delivering packages for others. This precarious form of employment only increases the fear of standing up to demand better social protection due to the risk of being detained by ICE agents based on their migratory status.

May-June 2020.

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