Fort Worth photographer Ontario Mireles kept his eyes out for any strangers to snap a photo of as he strolled through Sundance Square Plaza on a recent March afternoon.
The 30-year-old wasn’t looking for any particular person, just someone with their own personal style and vibe that stood out against the tall downtown buildings.
Then he spotted a woman covered in arm tattoos wearing heart-shaped glasses and a spring dress walking into the plaza north from Main Street. He clicked record on his Ray-Ban Meta glasses and quickly approached her.
“Can I get a photo of you?” Mireles asked with a Sony A9 camera in hand as she pulled an earbud from her ear.
Without hesitation she agreed and introduced herself as Kaitlyn Tully. He snapped her photo, thanked her and continued walking — looking for the next person to photograph.
Images of strangers, like Tully’s, make their way onto Mireles’ viral social media platform “Fort Worth People,” which spotlights residents across the city in their own individual posts. The account has accumulated over 35,000 followers across Instagram, TikTok and Facebook in the four months since its launch.
@fortworthpeople
Seeing that rapid growth has been awesome, Mireles said, since he started his profile with the simple goal of celebrating the people who make up his hometown.
“I’ve always had this big connection to Fort Worth,” he said. “I’m just always on the grind and staying in the zone. The growth is a blessing from something higher than me, and I’m just rolling with it.”
Even though the social media account has seen recent success — the idea isn’t necessarily new to Mireles.
The photographer started “Fort Worth People” on Instagram 11 years ago because he hadn’t seen any other local creatives at the time snapping photos of random people on the street. One notable account that popularized the concept was “Humans of New York,” he said.
Mireles spent a summer uploading a few photos but stopped before it started getting traction, he said. The account only had 30 followers at the time.
“I saw the idea, but I didn’t see the greater part of it,” he recalled.
Over the next decade, the profile sat unused. Mireles focused instead on building his name as an events photographer and moving into an apartment downtown.
Then one day last fall, he logged back into the Instagram profile and felt a calling to spotlight the people of his city once more. The most surprising part about restarting the account was the fact that no one else picked up the idea while he was gone, Mireles said.
On Nov. 12, he relaunched the new and improved “Fort Worth People” across multiple platforms with a photo of a man named Jason — sporting a cowboy hat and boots — sitting at Sundance Square Plaza.
Mireles now approaches roughly four people daily around downtown, South Main and Magnolia Villages in the Near Southside and the Fort Worth Stockyards. Most of them agree to get their picture taken, but there are usually one or two people a week who respectfully decline, he said.
Ontario Mireles snaps a photo of Kaitlyn Tully after stopping her at Sundance Square Plaza on March 24, 2026. (David Moreno | Fort Worth Report)
Even though talking to strangers is in his routine, Mireles said he still gets shy. It’s all about practice, he added.
The photographer will continue to perfect his craft as he prepares to soon make his way to Trinity Park in the Cultural District.
So next time you’re running or walking on the trail, be ready for a photo, because you never know if you’ll be approached by Mireles.
David Moreno is the arts and culture reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at david.moreno@fortworthreport.org or @davidmreports.
The Fort Worth Report’s arts and culture coverage is supported in part by the Meta Alice Keith Bratten Foundation and the Virginia Hobbs Charitable Trust. At the Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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