Rafael Cardenas set out to capture L.A. in a photo a day. He ended up recording a pandemic

The plan was simple: take a photo a day, every day, for a year.

For Rafael Cardenas, a Los Angeles photographer known for capturing candid images of life in the city, the plan was a way of staying nimble with his camera — a daily looking exercise that also functions as a visual diary. (He posts one image to his website, rafa.la, every evening.)