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The Bigger Picture

Photo essays exploring the lives that fascinate us most up-close.

keep it moving

‘I’ve Gotten So Much Stronger Playing This Sport’

 The Gotham Roller Derby skaters have collided with endless obstacles — but their community has never been stronger. By Katja Vujić

More From 'The Bigger Picture'

  1. The Wrestling Legend Bringing Joshi to AmericaWith Sukeban, Bull Nakano wants to take women’s pro wrestling “to the top of the world.”
    By Laura Pitcher
  2. Come for the Game, Stay for the Knicks City DancersThese nine women never have a bad season.
    By Emily Leibert
  3. Fighting for RecognitionEnter the ring with the trainers of OutBox, a trans-owned and -operated boxing gym in Williamsburg.
    By Caira Conner
  4. The Palestinian Belly Dancer Keeping Her Culture AliveChoreographer Janelle Jalila Issis encourages her students to embrace their bodies.
    By Katja Vujić
  5. The Girls Shredding the BronxHitting the pavement with the founders and members of Bronx Girls Skate at Playground 134.
    By Laura Bannister
  6. Questioning What It Means to Be QueerThirty portraits of young people expanding their definitions of queerness beyond the limits of desire.
    By Emily Monforte
  7. Three Generations of Women Go WestPhotographer Rose Marie Cromwell documents her mother’s and daughter’s aging and growing bodies over the course of several road trips.
    By Nadine Zylberberg
  8. Reframing the Migrant ExperiencePhotographer Felipe Romero Beltrán’s Dialect captures the journey of Moroccan migrants in southern Spain.
    By Boutayna Chokrane
  9. ‘Once a Mermaid, Always a Mermaid’Mermaids of Weeki Wachee Springs State Park reflect on a 76-year-long tradition.
    By Laura Bannister
  10. Ink LoversWhat it’s like to have your partner’s likeness tattooed on your body forever.
    By Jane Starr Drinkard
  11. A Collective Family Photo AlbumExclusive images from Renata Cherlise’s Black Archives: A Photographic Celebration of Black Life.
    By Naomi Elias
  12. ‘I Make the Place, I Am the Place’Photographers and friends Genesis Báez and Jennifer Calivas explore the permeability of bodies, place, and pleasure in their two-person exhibition.
    By Bindu Bansinath
  13. Rethinking the Traditional Maternity Photo ShootA Mother’s Letter gets real about the highs and lows of pregnancy.
    By Devine Blacksher
  14. Queer AmericanaPhotographer Ryan Pfluger captures LGBTQ intimacy in the United States.
    By Michel Ghanem
  15. ‘I’m Trying to Focus on the Joy’Celebrating 20 years of Pride in St. Petersburg amid Florida’s anti-LGBTQ+ crusade.
    By Ashley Dye
  16. Thirty Years of Community — Not Cops or Corporations — at the Dyke MarchScenes from this weekend’s anniversary march in New York City.
    By Melissa Kravitz Hoeffner
  17. Scenes From Friday’s Abortion-Rights Protest Outside the Supreme Court“I deserve access to health care. My daughter deserves access to health care.”
    By the Cut
  18. My Fire IslandMost people don’t think about accessibility on the island until someone like me gets there.
    By Robert Andy Coombs
    As told to Katie Heaney
  19. Queens of a Certain Age Deserve All the FlowersWith Legends of Drag, Harry James Hanson and Devin Antheus compile a living history alongside phenomenal portraits of drag icons.
    By Bindu Bansinath
  20. Scenes From the March for Our Lives D.C. Rally“I have been doing this since Parkland happened. I can’t believe we are still coming back.”
    By Bindu Bansinath
  21. We Are Surrounded by GodsCamila Falquez’s meticulously arranged photographs unveil everyday deities in all their splendor.
    By Madeleine Wattenbarger
  22. ‘I Feel Like We’re Going Back to the Stone Age’Talking fear, rage, and hope with abortion-rights protesters in Foley Square.
    By Bindu Bansinath
  23. The Thing She CarriedPhotographers Jean-Marc Caimi and Valentina Piccinni asked Ukrainian refugees to show one important item they were able to take with them from home.
    By Bindu Bansinath
  24. My Miscarriage, in PhotosWhen I got pregnant, my partner took out his camera. In the turbulent weeks after, he never put it down.
    By Becca Leitman
  25. ‘I Didn’t Want to Leave My Dad, But I Had To’Mariia and Elina, sisters from Kyiv, documented their family’s journey from Ukraine to Germany in photos.
    By Amelia Schonbek
  26. Capturing JeongHow do you photograph the invisible connections we share with loved ones? Like this.
    By Bindu Bansinath
  27. Love, Loss, Distance: Finding FamilyDeSean McClinton-Holland’s photographs are an ode to the Black family unit.
    By Devine Blacksher
  28. My Miscarriage, in PhotosWhen I got pregnant, my partner took out his camera. In the turbulent weeks after, he never put it down.
    By Becca Leitman
  29. Capturing the Joy of Black GirlhoodAt two new exhibitions, both in Newark and both thanks to the work of sisters Scheherazade and Salamishah Tillet.
    By Laura van Straaten
  30. Wrestling Has a Dark Side. But for Some, It’s a Safe Space.Photographer Sofie Vasquez spent a year traveling the country, documenting the indie-wrestling scene.
    By Bindu Bansinath
  31. Longing for FamilySydney Mieko King’s “Entanglement” conceptualizes the body as a container of ancestral memory.
    By Brooke LaMantia
  32. Her Love of Dance Led Her to Be a CuratorIsolde Brielmaier uses movement to inspire her curation process.
    By Asia Milia Ware
  33. A Different Kind of Family Photo AlbumWith Santa Barbara, photographer Diana Markosian recreates and reimagines her mother’s pursuit of the American Dream.
    By Anna Furman
  34. As Seen on Riis BeachDancing, smoking, and playing all summer long at New York’s queerest seashore.
    By Brock Colyar and Andrew Nguyen
  35. A New Kind of Sports PhotographyAlice Mann’s award-winning series showcases a South African subculture: drum majorettes.
    By Olivia Evans
  36. Beautiful DisruptionA closer look at photographer Nadine Ijewere’s first solo show.
    By Emilia Petrarca
  37. Envisioning Hidden HistoriesAvion Pearce’s photographs imagine a Black lesbian love story for the ages.
    By Devine Blacksher
  38. Our Mothers, OurselvesMagdalena Wosinska’s family photos will make you want to call your mom.
    By the Cut
  39. This Solange-Approved Photographer Is Releasing a BookA first look at Carlota Guerrero’s Tengo un Dragón Dentro del Corazón.
    By Sangeeta Singh-Kurtz
  40. A Gathering of Radical LovePhotos from “Protect Asian Lives,” a tender space for queer Asians, by queer Asians.
    By Andrew Nguyen
  41. Gender Dysphoria / Gender EuphoriaPortraits by — and for — the trans and nonbinary community.
    By Elly Belle
  42. A Day of Solidarity Amid Rising Anti-Asian ViolencePhotos from a Black and Asian solidarity protest in New York, by the photographer Stephanie Mei-Ling.
    By Amanda Arnold
  43. Jasmin Hernandez Made the Coolest Coffee-Table Photo BookLet the Gallery Gurls founder tell you about it, and give you a look inside.
    By Devine Blacksher
  44. Another Year TogetherPhotographer Lula Hyers documented New Year’s Eve with her pod.
    By Emilia Petrarca
  45. A Quiet New Year’s Eve in BaltimorePhotographer Shan Wallace takes a walk around her city.
    By Emilia Petrarca
  46. A Mother and Daughter Spend New Year’s Eve Together“It was a day filled with home improvement shows, snacking, and deep conversation.”
    By Emilia Petrarca
  47. A Place for Artists to Hit ResetJasmine Clarke’s photographs capture moments of Black joy at a residency upstate.
    By Devine Blacksher
  48. A Fascination With FamilyPhotographer Prin Rodriguez explores her personal history and ancestral archive.
    By Emily Burns
  49. All You Need Are Wheels and a MaskDuring the pandemic, a Brooklyn basketball court has become a makeshift roller rink.
    By Emilia Petrarca
  50. Four Years Later, a Citywide PartyIn the seconds after major news networks called Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election, New Yorkers exhaled loudly, in unison.
    By Claire Lampen
    Photographs by Cheryl Dunn
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