The magazine of the photo-essay
November 2016 issue
by Kathy Shorr
“A free, really high quality photo-essay magazine. Fabulous!”
Stephen Fry. British actor, writer and film & documentary maker
The increasing ubiquity of gun violence has, unfortunately, become the norm across the world but particularly in the
United States, where we have begun to hear horror after horror on an almost daily basis. So much so that it has now
started to produce a numbing effect, a helplessness that allows us to hear the news and say, “here we go again” and put
it out of our mind. Gun violence is now something we expect to happen.
The goal of SHOT is to focus attention on the survivors of gun violence - people who have been shot and survived the
experience. From across the United States, survivors from different socioeconomic, political, ethnic, gender and age
groups including high and low profile shootings are the united faces of gun violence, 101 varied, relatable people who
have gone through a life altering experience.
The majority of portraits are taken at the location of the shootings. This adds another dimension to SHOT as most of
these locations are banal and ‘normal’ places we all visit: shopping centers, places of entertainment, church,
neighborhood streets, movie theaters etc. Many of the shootings actually occur in the survivor’s homes and cars. This
again gives the viewer another chance to connect with the participants and to imagine just how close we all are to the
possibility of this happening to someone that we know.
Those who die from gun violence can only address the issue as statistics and memories of lives that were. The SHOT
project focuses on the living whose lives have been forever changed by the emotional and physical trauma of gun
violence. They are present in their portraits, words (survivors write a statement to accompany their photo) and voices
(video clips) and are not able to be dismissed as statistics that have passed on but rather as a “force” to reckon with.
SHOT enables us to explore the dialogue about gun violence. A number of the survivors in SHOT are responsible gun
owners. It is not meant to be polarizing but rather to connect us to each other and how much we have in common,
giving us the opportunity to begin to take an unbiased look at guns in American society. Responsible gun laws are
desired by most Americans.
SHOT will be published by PowerHouse books, Spring 2017.
After stating that he planned to kill her, Marlys was shot through the heart by her husband of 41 years. Canoga Park,
California, 1999.
Ambushed by her ex-husband, Shirley was shot as she got her daughters
from nursery school. Her ex-husband used two guns and struck her 14
times. The former military man was released on $25,000 bail.
Indianapolis, Indiana, 2014.
Antonius was struck by a random bullet as he walked down a crowded Brooklyn street. The intended target was the ex-
girlfriend of the shooter. Brooklyn, New York, 2013.
Aisha was shot in the chest and then in the head by a teenage acquaintance that owed her 40 dollars. She lost her
right eye. He was sentence to five years in jail. Newark, Delaware, 2012.
Ally was visiting a friend when she was shot in the head. Unaware it was loaded, Howe’s friend was fooling around with
a gun that her father had left on the table when it went off. Lee’s Summit, Missouri, 2012.
Seventeen-year-old Chloe was talking with friends on the street when a stray bullet hit her in the head. Kansas City,
Missouri, 2013.
After leaving her shift at a Holiday Inn around 11:00 pm, Cori got in her car to drive home. Headed for the freeway, she
stopped at a red light. In the next second she was shot in the neck. The shooter then drove off. Fort Collins, Colorado
2015.
While working a drug bust, police sergeant Greg was shot in the face by the drug dealer. Augusta, Georgia, 2004.
The first time Isiah was shot he was hit three times, once in the chest. A group of strangers had pulled up to his car
and started firing. The second incident resulted from a dispute between two groups at a club. Johnson was leaving the
club and saw some of the arguing men in a car. Telling his date to go back inside, he started to drive away and was
shot in the arm. Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 2014 and 2015.
James lost the lower part of his leg after talking to a rowdy guest at a
birthday party. The guest, a former military man, returned to the party,
placed a shotgun on Armstrong’s calf and fired. He then turned the gun on
Armstrong’s friend, killing him. When he put the gun to the head of a
second friend, it Bozeman, Montana, 2013.
Jasbir was cooking for the congregation at a Sikh temple when a white supremacist and former Army veteran entered
the temple and opened fire. Six people were killed and four were injured. The supremacist killed himself after shooting
at a police officer on the scene. Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 2012.
Pastor E was hit during an armed robbery at a gas station. The community
activist now teaches drama and is a little league coach in New Jersey.
Atlanta, Georgia, 1997.
Police sergeant Jon was hit in the face by a wanted man who had just
murdered two people. The sergeant’s face shield malfunctioned and he
was blinded by the bullet. Belleville, Illinois, 2006.
Standing with a group of friends outside of her high school, Karina became the unintended victim of a drive-by shooting
fueled by gang revenge. She was 16. Aurora, Colorado, 2010.
Eight-year-old Taniya was shot by another third-grader in their classroom.
The boy had found the gun in his home and brought it to school. Augusta,
Georgia, 2015.
Megan was shot through the pelvis with an AK-47. Stopping to drop someone off, the car she was riding in was
besieged by a hail of bullets. She lay on top of a toddler who was also in the car to protect the child. Hobson now walks
with a limp. A gang initiation is believed to be the motive. Miami Gardens, Florida, 2012.
