Los Lustrabotas / Shoeshiners

Every day, thousands of lustrabotas scan the streets of Bolivia’s main city, La Paz, for customers. Many of the estimated 3,500 lustrabotas wear thick ski masks and baseball caps pulled down low, so friends and family cannot recognize them.

When I initally began working with the lustrabotas, I would hold nightly photography workshops, where many would arrive heavily intoxicated.

Lustrabotas have a reputation for being alcoholics, addicted to sniffing glue, and also petty thieves, an image reinforced by their masked appearance. Many of the child lustrabotas are orphans, and oftentimes they prefer to brave the streets rather than abusive homes.