WHEN THE SPIRIT MOVES | JUSTIN MAXON

Justin Maxon has been awarded the 2012 Alexia Foundation Professional Grant. These are the portfolio images for which the grant was awarded. The images will be updated when Maxon submits his final project. His proposal will also be posted at that time.

A group of local residents pray in front of the home of a women who was shot by a stray bullet in the William Penn housing project. The group, lead by one of the out-raged family members of the victim, organized a daily walk around the project for seven straight days in protest of the violence. The William Penn is notorious for being one of the most violent projects in the city and prior to this incident, according to residents, over a half dozen people had been shot in the last few months. Justin Maxon

Family member carry the casket of Kathy Ann Stewart, after a funeral service in her name. Stewart was murdered by a stray bullet while laying in bed talking to her fiance. She lived in the William Penn housing projects, in Chester PA, which is notorious for being one of the most violent projects in the city. Prior to this incident, according to residents, over a half dozen people had been shot in the last few months. In a city where many of the murders go unsolved, the killing of Steward outraged the local community enough that people who had information came forward and the assailants were arrested. Justin Maxon

Chester is laden with over a half a dozen highly polluting faculties that line the Delaware river, which has led to high cancer and asthma rates in the community. Justin Maxon

Two young teenagers stand out front of their house playing basketball. The family, which consists of 13 children and their mother, live right next to a trash incinerator. At night the burners are turned up higher and the smell becomes so powerful that it infiltrates into the homes around. Chester is a haven for industry, with countless highly polluting facilities contributing to high cancer and asthma rates in the community. Justin Maxon

Children sleep at a family friend's house after watching TV. The parents of the kids threw a party in their neighborhood and didn't want their children around for it so they sent them to a friend. Justin Maxon

Jasmine Rasheed-Bacon, 6, consoles her cousin, Breonna Starkey-Bacon, 6, after she went into a closet to cry because of a disturbance in the house. The two cousins are very close and rely on each other for support. The girls live in a dangerous neighborhood called the Sun Village in Chester, which is notorious for its drug trafficking and drug related crime. Justin Maxon

Tarimur Harris, 60, lies sleeping in his room at his brother’s house.  Harris had been fighting intestinal cancer since he was diagnosed four years ago.  He passed away four months after this image was taken. Chester is a haven for industry, with countless highly polluting facilities contributing to high cancer and asthma rates in the community. Justin Maxon

A young girl who goes by the name, "Kiki," 14, play fights with a boy she likes outside of her home in Chester Pa.  Around a week prior, Kiki had alleged that she was rapped by a family friend which had spurred a debate in the family as to whether or not it as true. The girl lives with her mother and 13 other siblings. Domestic abuse is fairly common in the city, with the outcomes often ending violently. Justin Maxon

Portrait of Daaiyah "Wya" Shaw, 20, in her home. She has aspirations of being a model. Justin Maxon

A young girl stands in the doorway of her uncle's house waiting for her mother to return from the corner store, while her cousin lies on the ground using a computer. The Bacon household was extremely full and because there was 12 people living in a small three bedroom home, a number of them had to sleep on the ground in the living and dinning room. Justin Maxon

All images © Justin Maxon

Fonte

BIO
Roger LeMoyne studied film and Music at Concordia University in Montreal, toured Canada with a band and worked in film and music before turning to photography. Since the early 1990’s, he has spent most of his time documenting the human condition, conflict, human rights issues and international aid in the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe.
His work has appeared in publications ranging from the magazines Paris Match, Life, Time, Macleans Magazine, Border Crossings, Canadian Art, COLORS, Geo, l' Actualité to other venues such as Unicef annual reports,  the International Conference on War-Affected Children, Visa pour l’Image, Contact (Toronto) and Gijon (Spain) photography festivals. His first book, “Details Obscurs” --a look at the effects of contemporary conflict on civilians-- was published in 2005.
His images have garnered more than 50 awards internationally, including the Dorothea Lange-Paul Taylor Prize in 2007, the “World Understanding Award” from POYi 2006, The Prix Bayeux Calvados in 2006, the Alexia Grant in 2004, Communication Arts, World Press Photo in 1999 and most recently a grant from the Quebec Arts Council to photograph gold-mining in the Amazon.
A freelancer his entire career, his pictures have been distributed by Gamma-Liaison, Getty Images and currently Redux Pictures of New York.
He lives in Montreal with his wife, a physician, and their two young children.