by Toty Antonio Ruggieri

Even with her strong will and personality, I love her unconditionally, like no other. I know I could survive without my husband, even though I love him. I know he would also be fine without me. But without my daughter, I would be torn to pieces. I can’t even think about it because my eyes well up with tears. I would do anything for her, anything to protect her and I pray that I can give her my best and be the best mommy I can be. I pray that our relationship will even get better as she grows up.

At least, I am always amazed at what she picks up. The scary part is that she picks up everything! Good and bad, I see and hear myself in her sometimes and think, “Oh no, do I sound like that?”. I see my little mirror and have to accept that I had some responsibility for molding her.

I took notice of how many parents would take their children with them to places and never talk to them, so the best advice I would give a first time mom is not to take her child for granted in this respect. Children are smart and absorb everything, we already know that, but how young a child learns language and everything you give her is amazing!

by Dan Farnum

For many recent years the FBI has designated my hometown of Saginaw, Michigan as having the most violent crimes per capita in the country. Flint and Detroit are also frequently listed in the top ten. These photographs investigate the condition of cities and neighborhoods in Michigan after years of economic decomposition. This work documents the people who remain when others fled and the places they inhabit amidst a backdrop of mass exodus.

Primarily I focus on teenagers and young adults: The disenfranchised, the urban pioneers and the hipsters whose youthfulness contrasts the harsh condition of the places in which they are photographed. These pictures capture an approachability and vulnerability in people who are typically misunderstood. Surprising, they have an urge to interact with the camera.

This is an important and pivotal time in the state’s history due to the recent national focus on this area brought about by sky rocketing unemployment, controversial automotive bailouts, and continuing crime. My background as a former resident allows me to view Michigan with a level of intimacy and familiarity that more fully addresses the physical as well as the mental ramifications of living in such a challenging place.

I taught her sign language and before she could talk, she signed the next word in a song that I would sing her to sleep with. That was my first realization of how smart children are if we pay attention to them and give them the tools.

by Dan Farnum

For many recent years the FBI has designated my hometown of Saginaw, Michigan as having the most violent crimes per capita in the country. Flint and Detroit are also frequently listed in the top ten. These photographs investigate the condition of cities and neighborhoods in Michigan after years of economic decomposition. This work documents the people who remain when others fled and the places they inhabit amidst a backdrop of mass exodus.

Primarily I focus on teenagers and young adults: The disenfranchised, the urban pioneers and the hipsters whose youthfulness contrasts the harsh condition of the places in which they are photographed. These pictures capture an approachability and vulnerability in people who are typically misunderstood. Surprising, they have an urge to interact with the camera.

This is an important and pivotal time in the state’s history due to the recent national focus on this area brought about by sky rocketing unemployment, controversial automotive bailouts, and continuing crime. My background as a former resident allows me to view Michigan with a level of intimacy and familiarity that more fully addresses the physical as well as the mental ramifications of living in such a challenging place.

Before she ever talked, I would show her things and describe them to her. I would point and tell her that the object waving high on the pole was called a flag and what colors it was, and that there were many types and what they represented. Anyone who saw and heard me would have thought I was crazy, considering my daughter was not yet a year old.

by Dan Farnum

For many recent years the FBI has designated my hometown of Saginaw, Michigan as having the most violent crimes per capita in the country. Flint and Detroit are also frequently listed in the top ten. These photographs investigate the condition of cities and neighborhoods in Michigan after years of economic decomposition. This work documents the people who remain when others fled and the places they inhabit amidst a backdrop of mass exodus.

Primarily I focus on teenagers and young adults: The disenfranchised, the urban pioneers and the hipsters whose youthfulness contrasts the harsh condition of the places in which they are photographed. These pictures capture an approachability and vulnerability in people who are typically misunderstood. Surprising, they have an urge to interact with the camera.

This is an important and pivotal time in the state’s history due to the recent national focus on this area brought about by sky rocketing unemployment, controversial automotive bailouts, and continuing crime. My background as a former resident allows me to view Michigan with a level of intimacy and familiarity that more fully addresses the physical as well as the mental ramifications of living in such a challenging place.

Mercedes Dorame

Gaps exist in memory, history hangs by threads and anxiety about authenticity and value seeps through the cracks.  Through my work I seek to regenerate to connective tissue of personal and collective meaning to reconstruct a whole.

As part of a Native American tribe from Los Angeles that was once declared extinct by history books, I wade through the shifting aspects of ceremony, deciphering the fragmented pieces of my ancestry as a Gabrielino. Piecing together cultural tradition and re-examining personal and cultural artifacts I explore the intersections of experience and memory.

Cinnamon and ochre interchange, red yarn binds and supports as it does with ceremonial sage.Through the performative acts of arranging and combining I activate these objects with new growth creating contemporary ceremony.