Micah Daniel, Funeral Service Professional, The Funeral Guy

Subject Statement: We aren’t seeing our parents, friends or loved ones and have limited visitation to outsiders within our sphere of influence. Ours is a ministry of compassion. We are like the mother and father figure inside the funeral home. We have almost had a 50% increase in our business which is stretching us to capacity. We love it from a standpoint of being able to help and being essential. We don’t love it because so many are losing loved ones. We are a last responder, and you can lean on us. Artist Statement:  I approached this project with the belief that collaboration with the photo subject is imperative for creating more authentic images. I took this a step further and asked my community to help me define the word “essential workers” and asked them to nominate themselves or others. Wanting my images to match the ethnic and cultural demographics of my neighborhood, I used the 2010 Census data in selecting participants.