Allison Hunter

The Shoe Shiners of Dajabón

Along the Haiti-Dominican Republic border in Dajabón, young Haitian boys — many of them orphans — earn a living shining shoes. Some live in the border town; others cross daily from Haiti. For most, it is their only income.

8 photographs

A young man sits on a small wooden shoe-shine box on a tiled sidewalk, one leg extended, looking upward with a watchful expression. Colorful painted walls flank him on the left; a truck is parked to his right.
A shoe shiner applies liquid from a small red bottle to the toe of a navy slip-on sneaker resting on a wooden foot rest. The shiner's sleeve is pulled back; a blue painted wall is visible in the background.
Three boys sit against a sunlit concrete wall in the late afternoon, wearing Crocs and casual clothes. The boy on the left in an orange polo looks toward the camera; the middle child shields his face with a folded paper; the boy on the right stares forward with arms wrapped around his knees.
A close-up of a worn wooden shoe-shine kit being held at the side, containing a plastic water bottle labeled Beller and a dark glass bottle. The holder's hands are visibly weathered.
A teenage boy in a red Michael Kors t-shirt stands against a two-tone blue and white painted wall, holding a soda bottle at his side, looking directly at the camera with a guarded expression. Handwritten graffiti marks the wall behind him.
A close-up of a person's hand resting against their hip on navy blue Adidas track shorts with gold stripes. The hand is calloused and worn; paint or polish stains mark the fabric.
A close-up of two weathered hands holding a small red shoe-shine brush with black bristles. The fingernails are darkened with polish; the hands are cupped open as if presenting the tool.
A tight close-up portrait of a teenage boy looking directly into the camera with a serious, intense expression. His eyes have a yellowish tinge; the background is softly blurred white and blue.