For Joaquin

Manuel Oliver gazes out with a steely-eyed resolve that speaks to a different kind of renewal—not joy, but purpose forged through unimaginable loss. I photographed him after he addressed a massive concert crowd in New York where he invoked the mission of Change the Ref, the organization he co-founded after the murder of his teenage son Joaquin in the Parkland school shooting. By amplifying urban art as a form of civic engagement, Oliver challenges us to confront the epidemic of gun violence with creativity and courage. Though his expression defies the exhibition’s title, Visions of Renewal, his presence is a testament to the human capacity to transform grief into a force for change—a quiet but profound vision of hope, healing, and meaning.