Rev. Anthony Woods, left, kneels while Rev. James E. Dunn, Sr. leads the congregation in prayer on April 10, 2022 at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church in Columbia. COVID-19 protections and a shift to online ministry posed unique challenges for many historically Black churches, including Friendship Missionary, where physical touch is often central to the congregations's worship experience.
×Jermey Bryant, 17, listens to rap artist YoungBoy Never Broke Again on June 24, 2023 while waiting to enter the St. Louis Open Black Rodeo at Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis. The event was Bryant’s third-ever time attending a rodeo.
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Hickman freshman Allison Weng, left, and junior Batti Camper rest between performances October 11, 2019 at Hickman High School. Both girls were members of the Hickman High School color guard. The color guard and band performed before the game and during halftime.
×From left, Connely Zuber, 9, Tripp Zuber, 12, and Holden Basseen, 11, watch as a whitetip reef shark swims by on July 25, 2023 at the St. Louis Aquarium. The trio visited the aquarium during its Shark Week celebration, in preparation for a trip to Florida to swim with sharks later that week.
×Dylan Pierson dances in the sun on June 24, 2023 during St. Louis Pride Fest in downtown St. Louis. “I think that right now is just an important time to celebrate who we are and being gay and being trans and being queer,” Pierson said. “I think it’s very crucial that we come out and we show ourselves and show that we’re not going anywhere.”
×Steve “Doc” Dachroeden pulls up the electronic underworking of a pinball machine on June 21, 2023 at the Silver Ballroom, a St. Louis pinball pub. Dachroeden owns the pub and performs repairs on the machines, which take regular abuse from customers and the weekly competition leagues hosted at the bar.
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My grandfather Joe, Christmas Day 2020. During the first year of the pandemic, every interaction we had was tinged with risk and guilt. He and my grandmother made an informal pact with my family. To them, at this stage in their lives, losing a year of seeing their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren was worse than death. So, guiltily, we risked it. A few weeks after I made this picture, my grandparents both received their vaccines. In a year full of risk and guilt, my worst fear never came to pass.
×Jack Gietl screams while wearing American-flag themed face paint, after a U.S. Men's National Soccer Team match on June 28, 2023 at CityPark in St. Louis.
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The University of Alabama gymnastics team celebrates after a teammate lands a tumbling pattern on Feb. 1, 2019 at the Hearnes Center in Columbia, Mo. Alabama won the meet against the University of Missouri.
×Belleville Fire Chief Stephanie Mills is photographed on Aug. 24, 2023, at Belleville Fire Department Station 4. Mills is the first female fire chief of Belleville in its 209-year history.
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My friend Dasha Vilchinskaia gets a closer look at me during a WhatsApp video call on March 27, 2020. Vilchinskaia and I met in Denmark — she was the international program’s sole student from Russia. In the two months we were both in Europe, we became quite close. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, I was forced home to Missouri while she stayed in Denmark. I miss her dearly.
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People watch a projection of Governor Mike Parson as he gives the State of the State address, Jan. 27, 2021, in the rotunda of the Capitol in Jefferson City, Mo. Hours before his speech, Parson was stopped from giving his address inside the House of Representatives, fueling an ongoing feud between him and fellow Republican Speaker of the House Rob Vescovo. In a letter later sent to lawmakers, Parson called the decision to move his speech to the Senate a “purposeful and disgusting scheme to embarrass” him by House leadership.
×Cheyenne Green, left, hugs Ohun Ashe on Aug. 9, 2023, during a memorial commemorating the ninth anniversary of Michael Brown Jr.’s killing by a White police officer outside of Canfield Apartments in Ferguson, Mo. Community members say little has changed to stop police shootings of Black people since Brown's death and they want lawmakers to make stronger laws against police officers who kill people during incidents.
×Kara Fitzgerald, photographed on June 26, 2023 at her home in the Tower Grove East neighborhood of St. Louis. Prior to moving into her new apartment, Fitzgerald had lived at a women's shelter for six months, where she said she faced frequent discrimination from staff and safety concerns because she is transgender.
×Attendees ride the giant “Yoyo” swing set up for the Missouri State Fair on Aug. 16, 2023, in Sedalia, Mo. The fair is an annual tradition in Sedalia, bringing thousands of people to the small mid-Missouri city.
×Javon Greenwood Jr. carries the cover of his soap box car to an art room on June 9, 2023 at the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation building in East St. Louis. Given the opportunity by the JJK, Greenwood was constructing his first-ever boxcar. He would go on to place third in the city's annual derby.
×Anna Allaria, right, kisses her son Collin, 8, goodbye as he heads off to his first day of third grade, while Dave Allaria, left, picks up their daughter Vivian, 3, on Aug. 16, 2023, at Albert Cassens Elementary in Edwardsville, Ill. The family was one of many dropping children off that morning, but enrollment at Albert Cassens has been on the decline since the COVID-19 pandemic, reflecting a trend throughout Illinois.
×Bowen Cox, 6, and Pumpkin the cat on the morning of Sept. 24, 2020 at the Cox’s family home in Marshfield, Mo.
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