Detroit-born photographer Mark Laita questions what it is in life that puts people, who were born equal, to follow completely different paths. His album Created Equal is a a study of social and cultural clashes, as well as the influence of different background, schooling and upbringing. All diptychs in the book compare two people, who have some kind of a connection that ends up being the biggest contrast between them: for example, out-laws are put next to policemen, school drop-outs next to college graduates, and Amish teens are paired with punk teenagers.

Created Equal, Mark’s first non-commercial work, took him 8 years to complete and was published in 2010. “I photograph what I love about my country, which is the American. By that I mean the individual who is shaped from more than 200 years of liberty and independence mixed with all the successes and failures that America has experienced in its short life. So here is a collection of these creatures. Tragic and wonderful, great and ordinary, they stand proud and ready for scrutiny,” says Mark. Discover what “the American” is to this photographer!

Website: marklaita.net, Book: Created Equal

1. Company President / Janitor

2. Fitness Model / Heart Surgery Patient

3. Marine / War Veteran

4. Baptist Minister / Ku Klux Klan

5. Homeless Man / Real Estate Developer

6. Lingerie Model / Woman in Girdle

7. Gang Member / Mafioso

8. Astronaut / Alien Abductee

9. French Chef / Short Order Cook

10. Amish Teenagers / Punk Teenagers

11. Female Body Builder / Drag Queen

12. Catholic Nuns / Prostitutes

13. Cowboy / Indian

14. Coal Miners / Male Exotic Dancers

15. Vegetarian / Butcher, 1999 / 2004

16. CEO / Messenger, 2006 / 2005

17. College Graduate / High School Dropout

18. Indigent Couple / Wealthy Couple

19. Showgirl / Librarian

20. Rock Band / Polka Band, 2006 / 2006

21. Ballerina / Trucker