Tangela Sears

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of photographing Tangela Sears. 

She's been the most vocal anti-gun violence activist in Miami for 20 years, and this May she lost her only son to a senseless shooting in Tallahassee - the same kind of violence she dedicated her life to preventing. 

"I'm angry every day that I have to wake up. I don't want to live in this world without my child."

I met Tangela at her uniquely vibrant home in North Miami. It's the same house she grew up in, same house her mother grew up in, and where she raised her son David. Her grandfather painted their home, the gate adorned with roaring lions, and all the ornate front yard decorations bright yellow and alternating red. It's one of the coolest homes I've ever seen in Miami and makes the whole street pop. Tangela was planning on passing it down to David. We met and shot a couple traditional portraits in her living room, but we got the best images outside in front of her family's iconic house. Afterwards Tangela lit up as she told me about her son and showed me a collection of her favorite photos of him.

Read her full feature in Miami New Times.