where there’s smoke there’s fire

The Shutdown Stories Project is a photographic essay of 21 people (21 of 800,000 workers) affected by the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. The photos were taken with Nikon D850 and 85mm f/1.8 lens.

How the Shutdown Stories Project Unfolded

The portraits you see in this post are from a larger photographic essay of 21 real people – 21 of 800,000 government employees – affected by the longest Government Shutdown in U.S. history. These photographs were created for The Shutdown Story Project.

We are both professional photographers in the Washington, DC area, and after attending a protest, we wanted to do something about the shutdown. Regardless of which side of the political aisle you sit on, it’s safe to say that federal workers have become unwilling pawns in the Shutdown.

Perhaps most dehumanizing is the way the media and certain politicians relegate these great individuals as a blind number, “800,000 federal workers.” Or worse. We only know them as our family members, friends, neighbors and members of our communities.

So we put out a call to affected federal workers in our areas to schedule a photoshoot on the afternoon of Wednesday, January 16 at the Creative Hands Studio in Washington, DC. All parties involved — including the two of us, the studio, and several other photographers and PAs — donated their time and resources to make this happen.

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