Jared Thomas smokes a cigarette while standing for a portrait outside of Speedway, where he works, in Nelsonville, Ohio, on Thursday, Dec. 3, 2020. "We have no control over the prices. I understand being upset about it and I understand that people have bad days, [but] I apologize, to go off about prices is inane. There's no point to it," said Thomas, on what he wished people knew about working at a gas station.
Antoinette Worsham wears a shirt with a photograph of her daughter Antavia Lee-Worsham while sitting for a portrait inside of her home in Cincinnati, Ohio. Antavia laid down while feeling sick and did not get back up again. An autopsy report identified the cause of death as diabetic ketoacidosis, or DKA. Antavia, a Type 1 diabetic, had been rationing her insulin due to concerns about affording the medication, Antoinette said.
Justine Orr originally of Gahanna, Ohio poses for a portrait at her work, Dave's Valero gas station in Athens, Ohio, on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2020. When asked about her work, Orr replied, "I've had to wash human feces and piss and blood off the wall [of the bathroom] so many times."
Doctor Tee Ford-Ahmed, director of communications for the Mount Zion Baptist Church Preservation Society, poses for a portrait inside of the historic church next to the stain-glass window that has since become the symbol for the organization, in Athens, Ohio, on Wednesday, July 21, 2021.
Mirna Malinar, owner of Be A Part Of It foundation stands inside her home looking out onto her backyard, in Sandusky , Ohio, on Monday, Oct. 18, 2021. Be A Part Of It is a 501(c)3 that is dedicated to helping connect members of the diabetic community with insulin and supplies that they need to stay alive. Malinar attributes starting this foundation to her son’s diagnosis with type one diabetes.
Candice Hayes-Mcinnis laughs with her friend while standing for a portrait in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021. Hayes-Mcinnis is a CPA and a type one diabetic. Even with her finance background, she is worried about finding a way to afford her insulin in the next few weeks when she will become uninsured. If a type one diabetic does not have insulin, their body will go into a state called diabetic ketoacidosis which, if untreated, is fatal.
Brian Smith, a resident artist at the Pioneer School Community Arts Center, plays guitar for a portrait in one of his two rooms he rents and uses for art, in Zanesville, Ohio, on Wednesday, June 9, 2021. "This has been my dream for 30 years, to be in this school and to be working and recording musicians and to help people feel comfortable," said Smith. This space, called the Christmas Tree room has been named and designed by Smith, and is one of two rooms in the school that smith rents and lives in. Smith's plan is to eventually clear coat the room to help preserve the layers of the school's history while the space is being lived in.
Micah McCarey, a member of the Athens City Council, stands for a portrait in Athens, Ohio, on Wednesday, July 7, 2021.
Barb Millard looks out her window at smoke from the Greenwood Fire from inside of her motel room at the Mariner Motel, in Silver bay, Minnesota , on Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2021. “I want you to understand how wonderful Isabella is,” said Millard, who lives just outside of the town. “The people up there all help each other. My car wouldn’t start one morning and before I could call into work to tell them I couldn’t make it there were five guys that stopped to look at my car to see if they could get it to start. And they did.”
Theo Peck-Suzuki, a journalist at WOUB News, stands for a portrait in Athens, Ohio, on Tuesday, July 20, 2021.
Sandy Fan, owner of China Fortune Restaurant, looks out the window at construction on Stimpson Avenue for a portrait, in Athens , Ohio, which has slowed business for her company, on Thursday, June 10, 2021. Fan, who's owned and operated the restaurant since 1989, has said she has never seen anything have as large an impact on her business as the construction is now.
Jane Cavarozzi, an owner of Dirty Girl Coffee, stands for a portrait inside of the building the company will be moving into in Glouster, Ohio, on Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2021. Cavarozzi, the president of the Glouster Revitalization Project, aims to use Dirty Girl Coffee to help promote women's economic progress in Appalachia.
Wendell and Lesley Strunk, aunt and uncle who raised Andrew and Matt Nord after their parents died, stand for a portrait inside their home in Lorain, Ohio. “Their mother passed away in her sleep ... so I said they’re not going to pass on my watch if I can help it,” said Wendell Strunk, left while standing next to Lesley, his wife, for a portrait. Wendell checked the boys’ blood sugar levels every two hours each night for six years until they were able to monitor it for themselves. “When we took them to the endocrinologist, the nurse said, ‘How long are you going to keep doing this?’ and I said, ‘As long as I have to.’”
Sarah Liese, a graduate journalism student at Ohio University, poses for a portrait at Strouds Run, in Athens, Ohio, one of her favorite places near school, on Tuesday, April 20, 2021. Liese had just been accepted at the Sundance Institute as a 2021 Full Circle Fellow, which is a fellowship specifically to help support indigenous artists.