ARTIST FRANCISCO MALAVE - UNAPOLOGETIC, CINEMATIC, REAL.

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.

His journey began unexpectedly in Times Square in 2015, when an iPhone 6 became the tool through which he discovered the rhythm of raw, unguarded moments.

Since then, Francisco has evolved from capturing college parties in Madison to navigating Chicago’s protests and nightlife with equal intensity. Each environment offers its own stage, yet the connection is the same: people, performing and revealing their humanity in real time.

What defines his images is a fearless embrace of energy. Sequins and neon, chants and tear gas, laughter and exhaustion, all become part of the visual theater he

constructs.

His portraits feel alive not only because of the characters within them, but because Francisco meets each subject with openness, conversation, and empathy. For him, the

social interaction is inseparable from the act of photographing, and this intimacy translates into authenticity on the print.

Drawing inspiration from Robert Capa, Bruce Gilden, Vivian Maier, and the graphic worlds of comic books and Pop Art, Francisco’s work vibrates with energy and

candor.

Whether it’s the gleam of nightlife or the chaos on the streets, his images insist that life is not flat, it is dimensional, theatrical, endlessly alive.

For Francisco, photography is more than a craft; it is a way of being. “I’m in a relationship with my art form,” he says. “The camera is an extension of my body, sort of

like an arm. Without it, I don’t feel whole.”

“I’m in a relationship with my art form. The camera is an extension of my body, without it, I don’t feel whole.” Francisco Malave