Against the Odds

© Naveen P M - Image from the Against the Odds photography project © Naveen P M - Image from the Against the Odds photography project © Naveen P M - Image from the Against the Odds photography project View all images ↓
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  • Dates
    2012 - 2012
  • Author
  • Topics Portrait, Editorial, Documentary
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Against the Odds is a multimedia project produced by the reporting students, studying at the Missouri School of Journalism, for Vox magazine.

Against the Odds is a multimedia project produced by the reporting students, studying at the Missouri School of Journalism, for Vox magazine (http://www.voxmagazine.com/AgainstTheOdds/).

I was called in to do the portraits for both the web as well print versions. Over a period of one month, I shot portraits for eleven of the twelve stories. Of those 11, 10 of them are part of this project. Each of these individuals have different stories and each one of them is a fighter in their own right.

For example, Hannah Hartley’s parents were told she would not live past a year of age but she just recently celebrated her 18th birthday. Michael Middleton was the first African American law student at the Univeristy of Missouri in the racially charged 1960s. Gretchen Maune lost her sight at the age of 24, yet she managed to become a graduate student in public policy and an advocate for the blind.

© Naveen P M - Image from the Against the Odds photography project
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Hannah Hartley, an 18-year-old, recently celebrated a birthday that she wasn't supposed to have. At birth, she was diagnosed with a severe form of muscular dystrophy and was given a year to live. In October, she turned 18, and with that defied all of the odds that have been against her since birth. Today, she may live a life unlike most teenagers', but she does it with optimism, happiness and a tremendous sense of humor. "I know I have a purpose in life."

© Naveen P M - Image from the Against the Odds photography project
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Dottie, 76, and Jim, 78, Gleed have been married 55 years. The Gleeds met in 1955 while attending the University of Alabama. Dottie was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 16 years ago and only two years ago, Jim suffered a stroke. The couple cites the stroke as a defining point in their marriage that has only furthered their love for one another. "Christ is our center, and then it’s like everything else. That’s what holds you together. As long as you’ve got that center, there’s nothing in the world that’s going to tear you apart. Because you’ve always got that at your core.”

© Naveen P M - Image from the Against the Odds photography project
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It’s hard not to notice that Smith is the only woman here. In fact, she’s one of only six women in the 136-person Columbia Fire Department. Only 4.5 percent of active-duty firefighters are women, according to a 2011 Bureau of Labor Statistics report, and it’s worth asking why. “It’s like a brotherhood – sisters, brothers, all the same. We take care of each other, we watch out for each other.”

© Naveen P M - Image from the Against the Odds photography project
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Godelive Ndayisaba is a refugee from Tanzania. She moved to Columbia in 2007 with her family and they have done their best to make a life in the U.S. Godelive is currently pursuing her dream of becoming a nurse and is the first in her family to go to college. “I really wanted to be in a medical school... ”

© Naveen P M - Image from the Against the Odds photography project
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The United States Golf Register states the odds of hitting a hole-in-one in any given swing as one in 33,000. With those odds, you have a better chance of getting struck by lightning in your lifetime (one in 10,000 odds) than acing any given hole in golf. By the looks of Daniels’ golf score card, one should steer clear of him during a lightning storm. Probability aside, what’s Daniels’s best advice for acing a shot? “Aim for the hole.”

© Naveen P M - Image from the Against the Odds photography project
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Harold Carter, WWII POW veteran, still finds pleasure in little things from magic tricks to Chinese food. Instead of relishing in the painful memories of Mukden camp in Japanese-occupied Manchuria, China, Carter brings a lighthearted air and war-worn lessons to his Columbia retirement home. “If I was gonna die, I wasn’t gonna die worrying. I was going to have the best time I could along the way.”

© Naveen P M - Image from the Against the Odds photography project
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Over the years, Middleton landed several dream jobs at the Department of Justice before becoming a professor at MU in 1985. He was also the first black member of the law school faculty. He retired from teaching 10 years ago and now has one of the highest-ranking positions on campus. But still, he does not believe that he has done anything truly significant. “Every black person or any woman in this country near my age has had the same story. Everyone who has had some success has suffered similar marginalization, racism or sexism and has overcome it.”

© Naveen P M - Image from the Against the Odds photography project
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Ross Mutrux lost 57 pounds through a workout program called "Domination." It's hard enough to lose 50+ pounds; it's even harder when you're 56 years old. But that didn't deter Ross; where most people on consistent weight-loss programs lose about 10% of their body weight, Ross more than doubled that. "I’d look over at the mirror, and laying down on the mat, and the highest part on me was my stomach. I’m thinking, I look like a beached whale. I got to the point where I wouldn’t look at the mirror. I really didn’t like what I saw. So I’m doing the abs workout and I look over at the mirror, and I have to do a double take, because my stomach’s no longer the highest part of me. My chest is higher than my stomach."

© Naveen P M - Image from the Against the Odds photography project
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As Gretchen Maune went to put eyeliner on she discovered that something was very wrong. She could only see gray blurry object out of her left eye. That was Labor Day weekend. A couple weeks later, she began losing vision in her right eye. Within a month and a half, she was legally blind. At the end of September 2006, Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy, a rare genetic disease that affects approximately 4,000 people in America had affected her as well. "There is very little that a person with a visual impairment, even total blindness, can't do that a sighted person can do. We just do them differently."

© Naveen P M - Image from the Against the Odds photography project
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Rodney Gaines is one of a select few African-American business owners in Columbia. He has been detailing cars all his life and has created and sustained a successful detailing business of his own. Rodney is a friendly character, always quick to a laugh and a smile. “I just love coming in, staying happy and making things happen.”