A lot has happened between my initial post and now. The story I started about the mother and her children navigating life without their father, who was killed due to senseless gun violence, has been terminated. I feel that the timing of my arrival may have been too soon and the period of grief they are going through made it difficult for them to realize what I wanted to accomplish. I am not mad because if I were in their shoes, I would probably feel the same way. 

So, I am back to square one. A square I have always dreaded because being stuck in a box sucks. But, I am excited about the other opportunities that this diverse city has in store for me! Now, more photos! 

1. A child contestant in the National Junior Swine Championship frowns while showing her pig because she discovered feces on her hand. An arena helper comforted her and she went on without another pout. 

2. A candid from a hot afternoon at Churchill Downs featuring older people, ninety degree temperatures and one-dollar beers. 

3. Watermelon Gazpacho from Blu Italian Grille.

4. Shelley Gaff holds a curling iron to Devyn Gaff’s hair as they prepare to show two pigs during the National Junior Swine Championship.

5. “Sometimes the clouds hang low, I can hardly see the road, And then I ask the question, Lord why so much pain. But He knows what’s best for me, Although my weary eyes can’t see, So I’ll just say thank you Lord, I won’t complain.” 

LaToya Terry sings, “I won’t complain” during a vigil for Deniesha Pugh, a 19-year-old who was killed in a hit and run at Broadway and 26th on June 27. “I was shaking,” Terry said afterward. The driver, who apparently had Pugh pinned under the car for 4 blocks, is still at large and the family is raising money to pay for funeral expenses.

6. A group of La’Nita school of dance members wait impatiently in the hall before performing on stage at Shawnee High School.

7. A bee rests atop of a Black-Eyed Susan and collects pollen, Tuesday, June 30, 2015.

8. A group of nervous fathers practice their moves minutes before taking the stage with their daughters during a daddy-daughter dance number for the La’Nita Rocknette School of Dance fathers day recital, June 18, 2015. To ease their anxiety, many of these fathers shared cigarettes.

9. A lady adjusts her hijab during Louisville International Refugee Day. 

I have been at an internship with the Courier-Journal in Louisville for three weeks now. It has been an awesome experience so far. I have been pushed and pulled in many different directions and been challenged as a photographer. It has been great! I’m learning to appreciate my mistakes (even though making mistakes literally kills me) because it is best to mess up as an intern (so they i.e. David Harrison and Dustin Strupp, say) rather than as hired staff. Here are some of the photos I have taken** since residing in Loo-uh-val (a pronunciation for you out-of-towners).

I am also currently working on a story that follows a mother who recently lost her husband to a random shooting in the West End of Louisville. The story will focus on the aftermath of gun violence within the community and this family. It will show the struggle of a mother as she has been forced to take on both roles, as mother and father, to her four children. There is one photo of this at the end.

** I have take more photos than this, I just am unable to find them at this time. More to come!

1. Foie gras and apricot confiture at Bistro Le Relais, June 5, 2015.

2.Tracy Anderson, the brother of a local hip-hop artist who was recently gunned down outside of a local club, cries during a news conference outside of University of Louisville Hospital, Wednesday, June 10, 2015. Henry Anderson is still fighting for his life at University of Louisville hospital while Donald “Wreck D. Mic” Mattingly Jr. passed away Tuesday night. No suspects have been named.

3.Bobbi Buchanan, Jefferson Community and Technical College English instructor, addresses one of her pupils’ questions about paragraph structure during the Art for Inmates in Recovery (AIR) program held at the Bullitt County Detention Center, Friday, June 12, 2015. Buchanan views writing as a personal therapy and said that this class has helped the inmates, as well as herself, better understand substance abuse. The writing program is funded entirely through a grant from the Awesome foundation.

4. Kenneth Williams, 52, stands on 4th and Oak in front of the makeshift memorial for Deng Manyoun, the man who was shot and killed by a Louisville police officer, June 15, 2015. Williams said he knew Manyoun personally and recently, with the help of his boss, aided Manyoun financially. Williams was across the street when the killing took place and witnessed the entire ordeal. “[The police officer] killed that boy for nothing,” Williams said, “He murdered that boy.”

5. Jordan laughs during the photoshoot, June 4, 2015. I photographed some behind-the-scenes images for the HerScene Magazine.

6.Tanya Nix, 40, of New Albany, sits with her son Skyler inside their living room next to a smile basket, ready to be shipped to a family with a Down syndrome child in Canada , June 8, 2015. Tanya created Skyler’s Smile Baskets, a private nonprofit, after feeling dispirited when the doctor’s didn’t greet her with a congratulations following Skyler’s birth, a year ago, at Clarke Memorial Hospital. Nix said that the baskets are an ice breaker for doctor’s and nurses to cheerfully greet families with a new born Down syndrome child. “It let’s other paren’t know that it’s okay,” Nix said.

7. Julia Comer is a jeweler and artist in residence at the Kentucky Museum of Arts and Crafts. June 10, 2015. She was selected to showcase her style in an upcoming issue of the Courier-Journal. 

8. Sharon greets her granddaughter with a kiss during service at New Horizon Full Gospel Church, in Louisville, Kentucky, Sunday, June 14, 2015. Sharon’s son, Donald “Wreck D. Mic” Mattingly Jr., was shot June 8, 2015 after leaving a night club and died the next day in University of Louisville Hospital. Donald left behind a wife and seven children, including the one pictured. Efforts have been put together through different avenues to raise money for the funeral, that will be Thursday.

A few photos I took during Western Kentucky University’s week long snow break.

Junior Evan Mack (from left), sophomore Tanner Leigh and sophomore Josh Wellum “layout” in the snow in front of the Ivan Wilson Fine Arts Center, Monday, February 16, 2015. The three students, along with many others around campus, used the first snow day

Senior Chris Page, of Bowling Green, (from right), freshman Russell Fuchs, of Henderson, and senior Taylor Billings, of Henderson, assist their Pi Kappa Alpha brother after his car became stuck in a snow pile on Chestnut street, February 16, 2015.

Freshman Carleigh Chaumont (right) laughs while carrying an inflatable mattress up Normal street with freshman Kayla Baker (left) and Sumer Norfleet, Monday, Feb. 16. Chaumont, of Louisiana, said she has seen this much snow before, in Colorado, but has ne

A silhouette of my roommate in the studio