Nick, 35, has cerebral palsy and still lives with his parents. His loyal twin brother Chris has always felt guilty about the daily struggles Nick goes through, which he doesn’t. As Nick finally gets his wish to move out on his own, Chris has to deal with his own fears and feelings about this...

Michael Ta’Bon spent 15 years in prison, where he promised himself that one day he would start a movement to prevent young people from repeating his mistakes. Now married and with two kids, his fierce commitment to community activism may ultimately cost him his...

Californian farmer Jesus Ramos was born in Mexico City and migrated with his family to the U.S. for a better life. He picked oranges in his youth and worked his way up to owning a 140-acre orange farm. As extreme drought wreaks havoc on the American West, Ramos finds himself on the front lines of a water shortage that threatens the future of his farm, his family and his community. As agricultural communities struggle while big coastal urban centers boom, farmers are cutting their losses and...

Michael Thomasson has spent a lifetime amassing the world's largest video game collection. Now, with his mother sick and facing an enormous mortgage, Michael put his collection up for sale and hope that someone will pay enough to cover his...

The Greers grew up as a 3-woman unit. This mother-daughter team was nicknamed “The Greer Girls.” When Marilyn is diagnosed with dementia at age 58, her daughters refocused their lives to care for her during her most precious years. As Marilyn’s disease progresses, the girls struggle to care for a woman who is less and less like their mother. Together, they navigate the unknown while balancing their personal lives until they are forced to make a heartbreaking...

On April 18th, 1987, Catherine Russell first stepped on stage to perform the role of Margaret Thorne Brent in the play, Perfect Crime. Twenty-five years and only four missed performances later, she resides in The Guinness Book of World Records for the most performances by an actor in a single part. Russell estimates that two and a half years of her life have been spent on stage playing this...

For Walter Backerman, seltzer is more than a drink. It is the embodiment of his family. As a third generation seltzer man, he follows parts of the same cobblestone route his grandfather began in 1920’s Manhattan. Walter maintains a collection of more than seven thousand antique bottles that he circulates to his customers. Many bear the family name, a tribute to his father and his grandfather before him. Now, after 90 years of the Backerman’s being in the business, Walter knows all too well...

As a toddler, Philly Mayer was healthy and happy. A chubby baby, he was quick to laugh and eager to get up on his own feet. And then, before his first birthday, Philly suddenly stopped walking. His motor skills began to deteriorate. After a slew of tests and endless emotional upheaval, doctors diagnosed Philly with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, a genetic disease that occurs in an estimated 1 out of every 6,000 births and leaves the spine underdeveloped. His parents were told that he would not live...

Flying in a motorized paraglider over one of the most diverse continents in the world, George Steinmetz captures the stunning beauty of Africa's landscapes and people. His pictures show not only the spectacular patterns of the land, but also the potential and hope that the continent...

In Airsick: An Industrial Devolution Toronto Star Photographer Lucas Oleniuk tackles the global issue of climate change through a local approach. With the exception of two images, all 20,000 photographs were shot in Ontario, Canada. But they illustrate a global problem. With a haunting original score by Randy Risling and evocative quotes, Airsick plays out like an unsettling...

Take Care offers a glimpse into the life of Virginia Gandee, a 22-year-old woman who lives in Staten Island, New York. At first glance one is struck by Virgina's bold appearance; her bright red hair and the dozen tattoos that canvas her body. When she was 15, Gin left home to marry a 20-year-old she met online. Two years later, she was a teenage mother. Today, Gin is raising her daughter as a single mother and pursuing her dream to become a nurse. Inside her family's trailer, her caregiving...

In Iowa, the thriving Midwestern family farm is no longer, having been choked by industrialized agriculture and replanted with subdivisions. A shifting economy, combined with an old-fashioned lifestyle that doesn't translate from generation to generation, is forever altering the landscape.old-time farmers try to hang on to their way of life, while their young push out to find their futures...

Since 1934, the well-worn stage at The Apollo Theater has been one of the world's greatest launching pads for phenomenal talent, catapulting the likes of James Brown and Ella Fitzgerald to international stardom. Thousands of contestants audition each year, with the hopes of facing the famously mean Apollo audience, described "like a bunch of pit bulls eating raw meat." Judged by the length of their cheers — or the depths of their boos — these contestants put more than their pride on the...

In 1994, in the East African nation of Rwanda, one million ethnic Tutsi people were slaughtered, in a genocide committed by their Hutu countrymen. But the scars left by these murderous militiamen go well beyond the numbers of the dead: they live on, in the lives of the women they held captive, raped - and left...

What can happen in our lives if we put our minds to it? Just what are we capable of turning ourselves into — and why do we try? One Man Brand explores these questions by delving into the life of a man who, in his own eyes, has really made it big. Robert Burck was a kid from a small town who was determined to make himself into something special. Always loving the attention of others, he worked as a model, a male stripper — "everything under the sun" — to get himself noticed. Then he made a...

Diamonds and gold — vast natural resources that could enrich a nation — are a curse in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the Congolese people have suffered the largest death toll since the second world war. The conflict between warlords and armed rebels for control of these resources have plunged the citizens into a life of poverty, sexual violence, and war. Some 45,000 people die each month as a...