• Cassi Alexandra  
• Harrison Cooney

• Stephen Crowley
• Marie DeJesus

We Are Family

Cassi Alexandra

In the wake of the June 12, 2016, Orlando Pulse Nightclub tragedy, this series examines the acceptance of violence and the recovery process a community goes through after such an event. Alexandra interviews and reflects with the subjects of her photos, resulting in an intensely intimate look, and aims to create an understanding of a community overwhelmed by grief, address the idea of what Americans have accepted as normal in our culture and elevate consciousness about the damaging legacy we are leaving future generations. 

The Wildlife Defenders - The Rhino War

Harrison Cooney

This series tells the story of those working behind the scenes and risking their lives to protect and defend a highly endangered species. Cooney trekked across southern Africa, embedding himself with anti-poaching units, visiting rehabilitation centers, meeting with biologists, pilots and game wardens. His photographs show these unsung heroes on the front lines of the fight to save the rhinoceros. 

Crowleygraphs

Stephen Crowley

Crowley, a New York Times staff photographer on assignment at the White House, does not limit his photographic eye to documenting the oval office and the first family. He often returns to his street photography roots and focuses his lens on the people of Washington, D.C. In a series of diptychs, which he calls "crowleygraphs," Crowley finds the similarities and discrepancies between the average citizen and the highest elected office in the world. They are a window into the world of a D.C.-based New York Times photographer.

Traces Of Home

Marie DeJesus

Part of a larger series for a project the Houston Chronicle called The Million that explores how diversity shapes the city of Houston, Traces of Home features 14 portraits with written stories. In each portrait the subject, an immigrant, presents one object they carried on their path to their new home. Through each story, they share why they left their countries of origin to resettle in the United States. A teapot, a family photo, a basket of vegetables, these objects humanize the very people who are often counted only in numbers. 

Dancer Of The Universe

Lola Gomez

Living in abject poverty and suffering from an undiagnosed illness, Kadek is mostly confined to his room and is completely reliant on his family for mobility and nourishment. According to Gomez, Although his only connection to the outside world is a small television found on a table in the corner of his room, adek writes poetry so deep and intense, it makes you feel like he knows the entire world. At the exhibition, museum viewers will see this series of photos as well as the poem that became the namesake for this work, dancer of the universe.  

Animus

Robin Henson

In 2012, After hearing Morris Dees, founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, speak about the mass murder of worshipers at a Sikh Temple near Milwaukee, Henson felt compelled to use her photography as a way of contributing to the healing process. Henson states, “I wanted to work with the SPLC. My first assignment was to photograph the candlelight vigil held in Atlanta for the Sikhs whose lives were lost. I continue to shoot for the SPLC to share stories of civil and social injustice. Racism is a recurring theme in my work. I hope to raise awareness of intolerance while creating a fair representation of those in front of my camera.” 

WEED: The Story Of Charlotte's Tangled Web

Jennifer Kaczmarek

Beginning this project in August of 2014, Kaczarmek's series centers on families desperately in need of medical marijuana. Kaczmarek says, “I feel it is a duty to serve, and this is my way of serving. I am humbled by the stories I have learned and the men, women and children I’ve met. Through these journeys I have made wonderful connections. You don’t have to go far to realize the struggles and hardships of those living in our own backyard.” 

Sara's Sojourn: A Crusade To Recapture Innocence

Erika Masterson

This fine art series follows a young girl through an imagined landscape of good and evil, depicted through light and shadow. Each composition is rich with symbols and imagery that would be at home in ancient mythology or holy books. In Masterson’s own words, she states that, “the mood of these images is dark and uncertain. But within this uncertainty is where truth resides. The point of brokenness is the point of this freedom. Without the darkness there can be no light. Without the brokenness there can be no freedom. This is where true beauty is unveiled through vulnerability.”