Monica Melton

A man closely observes a hibiscus flower at a greenhouse. 

A man looks out over the forest at Snake Lake Creek.

A sunlit path at Snake Lake Creek in Tacoma, Washington. 

brown trees on green grass field during daytime

A forested section of Snake Lake Creek in Tacoma, Washington. 

smiling woman wearing see-through top during daytime

A woman in a fishnet dress with colors of the Jamaican flag poses for a photo during a Caribbean Day Parade.

Police grew angry with protesters who flooded a municipal building in Brooklyn demanding more affordable housing. The police began to shout at protesters. The emotion and tension is communicated through their body language.

The differences between the two people holding the signs yet fighting for the same cause seemed significant to me.

An organization in Brooklyn protest rent hikes and demanded affordable housing in the borough.  There was a lot happening at this moment, the women in the coat, the expression on the officers face, the man with the sign. All these elements seem to tell an interesting narrative.

A young man sits on the roof at the ruins at the Ducor Palace Hotel. Young men unofficially guard the palace and charge tourist a fee to climb to the top. Along the way, there is crumbling concrete and open elevator shafts that lead straight to the bottom of the eight-story building. In spite of all the decay, there is a peaceful view of the Atlantic Ocean and Saint Paul river.

On the rooftop of the abandoned Ducor Palace Hotel sits a broken concrete pillar now covered in moss. The lone stump really captured the state of the ruins there. The hotel used to be Liberia’s only five-star hotel before their civil war.