23-03-2025
West Valley photographer gives back by bringing photography to south Phoenix kids
For about an hour after school, Jana Nolan, a lowrider and lifestyle photographer based in metro Phoenix, brings her students together and teaches them the basics of creating everlasting images that preserve the history of their changing communities.
Nolan's family roots lie in the West Valley, in a part of Glendale that locals called "Sonorita," — smaller Sonora in Spanish — but moved to Mesa after her father noticed the community changing. With only an uncle and a few cousins still living in the Glendale area, Nolan said her father photographed the neighborhood before her family left.
This family history inspires her work with students in Phoenix, who in recent years have seen a shift in their communities, with changing landscapes and development leading to many of them leaving the neighborhoods they grew up in.
She does this through 2 Live and Die in AZ Kids, an after-school program based at the Pioneer Technology & Arts Academy of Arizona, a public charter school in south Phoenix, through which students gain photography skills and are tasked with documenting the history of their communities while opening their futures to potential career paths.
In addition to running 2 Live and Die in AZ Kids, which she co-founded, Nolan said she currently works in human resources specializing in safety and compliance for the grill company Pit Boss.
But at 47, her true calling lies in running 2 Live and Die in AZ Kids, which she co-founded in 2024 — a skill she began to develop at 16 when taking a photography elective at the East Valley Institute of Technology in Mesa.
Photography, however, has been a constant in Nolan's life.
While her father served in the Vietnam War, Nolan said her grandmother, whom she lovingly calls Nana, sent him his camera which he then used to take albums' worth of photos during his service. When he returned home, Nolan said he went to printing school and worked his way from the Arizona Highways' print shop to become a published photographer in the magazine.
He filled albums of family photos of Nolan and her sibling up until he passed in 2015.
Nolan inherited his film camera which she used for many years before she thought to herself, "I would die if something happened to my dad's camera."
In the years since learning how to photograph and film her surroundings, Nolan has freelanced for several magazines including La Cultura Magazine, Lowrider Magazine and Oneway Magazine in Japan, dipping her toes in car, portrait, lifestyle and street photography.
After stepping into an educator role, Nolan now focuses on teaching photography to a new generation through the Phoenix-based program.
2 Live and Die in AZ Kids was founded by Jana Nolan and Abel Perales, a historian and director at the same school.
The program was intended to be a spinoff project of 2 Live and Die in A.Z., which mirrored the original 2 Live and Die in LA, a Los Angeles-based art festival and exhibition that celebrates street culture in Los Angeles, California.
Noticing rapid changes in the south Phoenix neighborhoods surrounding the charter school — with increasing development leading to gentrification — Perales sought out Frankie Orozco, founder of the Los Angeles show, to offer guidance on how the school could document their communities.
Nolan had already participated in the 2 Live and Die in A.Z. festival years past. So Orozco made the connection and from a group chat, 2 Live and Die in AZ Kids was founded at the school, with Nolan and Perales at the helm.
The program was launched in February 2024.
Nolan, Perales and the students enrolled in the program took a trip to Superior at the start of 2025, where they were tasked to document its history and the changes locals were experiencing.
Once there, students got the chance to photograph a local lowrider car club — a cherry on top for Nolan.
She was "on cloud nine," when she saw her student's eyes light up as the lowriders pulled up, she said, taking her back to her early days snapping photos of lowriders across the Southwest.
Perales said they also used the trip to teach the students the importance of traveling outside of their communities and sharing their culture and experiences with others, regardless of distance.
Students like Amairany Olivera and Reyna Noriega had no idea Superior was a city in Arizona until the trip.
"It was really cool. I didn't know about Superior and just going there and learning about new things is awesome," Noriega said.
But the Superior trip also had a profound impact on Nolan, watching her students put into action everything that she and Perales have shared with them.
"It really did something to me and it drives me to do more, not just for them, but in general," Nolan said.
The 45 minutes spent with the 2 Live and Die in AZ Kids students are everything to Nolan.
A mother herself, she said the time the students spend in the program also helps give peace of mind to their parents.
"It's like knowing that you make a difference in somebody's life, even if it's for 45 minutes that we get together, even if it's just us sitting around this table talking, it just feels good," Nolan said.
And the community knows it. The support that Nolan and Perales have received is crucial to sustaining and growing the program, she said.
"It doesn't matter how big or small people's donations or their time that they're contributing to us — it means a lot," Nolan said.
For now, the program only operates out of the one charter school, but Nolan plans to expand it to other local campuses.
Those interested in supporting the program can reach out to her via her Instagram @nolangirl_photography and at the 2 Live and Die in AZ Kids Instagram: @2liveanddieinazkids. The account is private for security reasons but messages are permitted.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: How a west Valley photographer gives back to south Phoenix kids
