Photographer captures moving portraits of essential workers

A picture is truly worth a thousand words for Pilsen photographer who has been capturing the lives of essential workers since the pandemic started.

Freelance photographer Mateo Zapata has been capturing the lives and stories of the most affected by the pandemic: essential workers.

Zapata lives in the west side Chicago community of Pilsen. He said the second he saw his community get hit by COVID-19, he had to do something.

He started taking pictures of essential workers, as well as those marching for justice, to tell the stories he said he thinks would've been forgotten.

"As a person of color, as a Latino from the south side of Chicago, I feel like there is a lot of moments that need to be captured by us that are about us," said Zapata.

He is currently working on a documentary that is compiled stories of essential workers. He calls it Los Essentials.

He said this is his way of showing his community that they matter.