Manuel Rivera-Ortiz (born 1968) is an American documentary photographer of Puerto Rican
descent. He was the eldest of 10 children from a poor family. His home was a tin shack and his
father worked in the fields chopping sugar cane by hand. Ortiz has devoted a lot of his time to
making sure that the world does not forget those in poverty. He could be described as a social
realist committed to bringing forgotten or ignored issues to the notice of society, for example
the plight of the Dalits, the untouchable caste in India, and the Aymara Bolivians who live on
the Altiplano – the High Plane. Ortiz has set up a foundation that supports under-represented
photographers, particularly from developing countries.

Visit the Ortiz website for more images: www.rivera-ortiz.com