Alvarado Street in Los Angeles is only two miles long. Packed into this brief and bustling thoroughfare is a celebration of humanity. From 2009-2011 I photographed the street and encountered an amazing slice of life: teenagers coming of age, proselytizers, drug addicts, the elderly, the disabled, undocumented workers, young mothers and the chronically homeless. In many ways Alvarado Street is a microcosm of issues our country is reluctant to consider.