James Carbone's life is a study of cultures that's expressed through his passion for photography. Bilingual, the son of a Mexican mother and Italian father who was a portrait photographer, Carbone was born in Los Angeles. From an early age, Carbone read through the books of great photographers: Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Frank, Mary Ellen Mark. "Seeing all those great images started my obsession with photography," Carbone says.For over fifteen years Carbone studied under Mary Ellen Mark, a world-renown documentary photographer. James Carbone's specialty is shooting digital and black and white film, using classic documentary photography skills. His work is characterized by human touch. With his intimate and interactive style, Carbone generates personal and heartwarming images of people in their natural environment. Since 2000, in Oaxaca, Mexico, he has documented the day-to-day life of the Lopez family, pepenadores (literally "sorters") who struggle to survive by scavenging plastic bottles in a garbage dump. He recently worked in New York with photographer Alex Webb and Rebecca Norris Webb on an up-coming book, called Familia Lopez.