Each day, gun violence claims 45 lives in the United States. In New York City, one life on average is taken each day by gun violence. “In Remembrance: Memorials for Gun Violence Victims in New York City” is a series of images of memorials for victims of fatal shootings across the five boroughs of New York City, with memorials for victims who died as early as 1995 and as recently as 2022. Memorials have become part of the landscape of some New York City neighborhoods. They serve as both a tribute to a life taken too soon, as well as a reminder of the gun violence crisis that is shattering families and neighborhoods across the city and the country. Sometimes they are on the street for just a few days, and sometimes they become permanent fixtures on the block.

The series invites viewers to "attend a memorial" for each of the victims represented in the slideshow as a way to remember the individuals taken by the gun violence epidemic, and to encourage dialogue and inspire action around our country’s gun violence crisis. The victims memorialized in the photos include a mother returning from her baby shower, a father who was shot in front of his two young sons at a block party, a one year-old baby sleeping in his stroller, a fourteen year-old practicing basketball, a Burger King employee working the night shift, and many others whose lives were tragically taken by a bullet.

Gun violence is a racial justice issue. Compared to White, Non-Hispanic Americans, Hispanic Americans are twice as likely to have their lives taken by gun homicide and Black, Non-Hispanic Americans are ten times as likely. In New York, this disparity is even higher, with Black, Non-Hispanic Americans 16 times as likely to die by gun homicide as White, Non-Hispanic Americans. However, media coverage of these shootings is far less robust than it is after mass shootings such as in schools, which account for less than 1% of the country’s gun deaths. Even though New York state has fairly stringent gun control laws, out of state guns are responsible for 9 out of 10 shootings in New York.

These shooting deaths may result from a range of circumstances, such as a stray bullet, a dispute, the victim was mistakenly targeted, or gang- or drug-related tensions, for example. Regardless of the circumstance, the result is the same: families are left to grieve, children are left without a father or mother, and communities are left wondering why the policies in place allow this to keep happening.

Gun violence is all of our concern as U.S. residents, and something we need to solve together. “In Remembrance” aims to document our gun violence crisis, raise awareness and move viewers to take action. In the slideshow, I have included photographs from a small selection of memorials. For photographs from additional memorials, please contact me.