Photography, at its best, reveals not only what we see but how we live. For Francisco Malave, the act of photographing is inseparable from the act of being present with people, whether in a nightclub at 2 a.m. or at the heart of the streets, his images are less about freezing moments than about transmitting the energy contained within them.

Some photographers look for silence; others seek out the storm. Francisco Malave belongs to the second kind. His lens finds humanity where it burns brightest, on the streets, in the clubs, in the midst of protest and spectacle. He photographs people not as static subjects but as living characters, radiating confidence, vulnerability, humor, and defiance.