Bright, beautiful and of-the-moment portraits shot in Tijuana by Jake Michaels

We see a lot of vernacular and street photography, some good, some bad, and some great. Jake Michaels’ terrific work subscribes to the latter camp and after coming across a recent series he made in collaboration with friend and photographer Thomas Prior in LA, we felt it was time to get to know him and his work a little better.

When he’s not working as a commercial photographer shooting ad work or assignments for The New York Times, he’s walking the streets of LA documenting those moments when the beautiful or absurd collide with the everyday. “I’m learning how to blend this idea into my career as a commercial photographer,” he says. “Most recently I’ve been developing a project in Tijuana focusing on the cultural similarities and differences between the United States and Mexico.” This, it has to said, is looking like some of his best work yet. “It’s still a work in progress, but it should materialise into something by the end of the year.”