San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, 2019

Near the city center of San Miguel de Allende, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a local named Diego walks the streets and earns money by selling flowers to tourists.

Whitford has managed to capture an image that is simultaneously heart wrenching and heartwarming. The cuteness and charm of the young Diego draws the viewer in, while the troubled circumstances of his life rupture any and all feelings of contentment. This image speaks to social justice issues on an almost subconscious level, as it takes a true comprehension of the image’s context to understand that a young boy with flowers can actually be a very unfortunate thing. Alongside the other photographs of children in Humanity, we wish to expand upon the necessity of human rights and how they ought to touch every human being, regardless of age.