Category: Face Of The Day

From a photo series of people wearing the shirts of former lovers:

When all else is gone, it is often the things we most take for granted that endure, like an old, torn t-shirt. For her collaboration with writer and actress Hanne Steen, photographer Carla Richmond collects intimate portraits of the brokenhearted, women wearing shirts left behind by ex-lovers. Hanging loosely about the contours of bodies they do not quite fit, the shirts and their wearers remain anonymous, their words recorded only in unending, stream-of-consciousness style poetry.

From that stream:

It feels like a flag I can’t stop flying. It comforts me in the meantime between the spaces. It’s just a rag I turned into a promise that he would never leave. Some sort of common thread between us. Part of me wants to rip it off. So many what-ifs and could’ve-beens and should’ve-beens and never- weres. It’s just a shirt. It’s been there for me when people haven’t. It makes me feel childish and taken care of. It makes me look a little stronger than I am. As long as I hold onto the shirt she is never completely out of my life. I’d wear it every day if I could. As much as you build a house around it or put a ring on it it’s all still temporary and dissolving so all you can do is love it. Even if it’s painful we need to hold onto something. Proof that we did it. That we went through it. That we learned something. That our hearts were broken. That we were loved. That we weren’t loved enough. For someone I won’t be something that will be so easily shed.

Many more portraits from “Lovers Shirts” here.

A festival-goer is covered in mud during the 17th Boryeong mud festival at Daecheon beach in Boryeong, 150 kilometers southwest of Seoul, on July 18, 2014. The annual festival aims to promote the use of the mineral-rich mud for cosmetic skin-care and to promote tourism in the region. By Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images.

Three days ago, a grieving father put out a request on Reddit:

My daughter recently passed away after a long battle in the children’s hospital. Since she was in the hospital her whole life we never were able to get a photo without all her tubes. Can someone remove the tubes from this photo?

The Reddit community answered with the images you see above. Cari Romm is moved:

[S]ocial media-driven responses to death can range from uncomfortable—is hitting “Like” on a Facebook death announcement supportive or crassly insensitive?—to the downright cringe-worthy, like the Tumblr “Selfies at Funerals.” But every so often, the world wide web offers up  to the bereaved some small piece of atonement for its missteps. …

Selfishly, it’s comforting for the rest of us, too. The longer we exist on social media, the more loss we’ll all eventually live out through our computer screens. Let’s hope that this, rather than funeral selfies, becomes the future norm for public grief.

A woman walks through the rain under an umbrella on 5th Avenue in Midtown Manhattan on July 15, 2014 in New York City. A torrential rainstorm poured down, adding to an already above average July rainfall. By John Moore/Getty Images.

Reverend Kat Campion-Spall weeps as she celebrates outside the venue after members voted to approve the creation of female bishops at the Church of England General Synod in York, northern England, on July 14, 2014. The Church of England overcame bitter divisions on July 14 to vote in favour of allowing female bishops for the first time in its nearly 500-year history. The decision reverses a previous shock rejection in 2012 and comes after intensive diplomacy by Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. By Lindsey Parnaby/AFP/Getty Images.

For his series Urban Shamans, Andrea Frazzeta photographed the healers, or curanderos, of Lima:

As many of the city’s residents visit shamans, they are able to compete with psychiatrists and physicians alike. At one time, the parliament of Peru considered a bill that regarded curanderos as doctors. Unfortunately, an estimated three quarters of healing practitioners are frauds, exploiting the trust of their patients.

Here, Frazzetta hopes to tell an honest narrative that explores the complexities of the unusual profession. Curanderos treat such maladies as fear and evil eye energies, as well as addressing concerns relating to work and travel. … Nestled in plain sight throughout the streets of Lima, these generations of shamans and their sometimes shocking ritual practices toe the line between cultural fixture and anomalous spectacle, inspiring ethical questions and often contradictory feelings.

See more of his work here.

CYJO’s series “Mixed Blood” portrays mixed-race families:

Vicki Cowart, CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, listens to Colorado Senator Mark Udall talk during a news conference about a bill to override Hobby Lobby decision, July 11, 2014. The news conference was held at the Denver Place in downtown Denver. By RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post via Getty Images. Details on Udall’s effort here.

Charla Nash, the victim of a mauling by a pet chimp in Connecticut in 2009 and who underwent a face transplant, speaks at a press conference on Capitol Hill on July 10, 2014. Nash joined members of Congress in advocating for changes in federal law banning the interstate trade of primates. By Win McNamee/Getty Images. To get a better sense of how remarkable her surgeries have been, watch her famous Oprah interview here.