Published on January 31, 2019
Javier Salazar inspires confidence in others – whether it’s the high school students he mentors or the low-income Edmontonians he photographs.
Salazar, who emigrated from Mexico to attend NAIT, has been organizing Edmonton’s Help-Portrait since 2009, offering those in need a professional portrait as a way of boosting their self-esteem.
“You don’t really understand the value of a portrait until you give it to a person who hasn’t ever had a professional portrait taken– who receives that portrait and cries in front of you,” says the owner of Javier Salazar Photography.
By day, Salazar works for Junior Achievement of Northern Alberta, where he mentors high school students. “The way we empower kids, that’s what’s kept me there for so long,” he says.
— Frank Landry