Judging America: Photographer Challenges Our Prejudice By Alternating Between Judgment and Reality

by Patrick Penrose Published Nov 11, 2025

Joel Parés, a U.S. Marine-turned-professional photographer, has created an interesting photo series that seeks to question the ugly prejudices that many of us harbor, to one extent or another, against groups of people different from ourselves.

Parés’ photo series at first presents us with characters symbolic of the prejudices suffered by various groups based on their ethnicity, socio-economic status or sexual preference. Then, however, they show us the real people behind these often false characters – the violent gangster turns out to be a Harvard graduate and an exhausted gardener turns out to be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

“Many of us are in the habit of judging others incorrectly by ethnicity, by their profession, and by their sexual interest,” Parés told PetaPixel about his photo ideas. “The purpose of this series is to open our eyes for social issues and make us think twice before judging someone because we all judge even if we try not to.”

More info: joelpares.com | Facebook | 500px (h/t: petapixel)