Sara Vance, 33, a third-generation coal miner, holds her 11-month-old daughter, Alexis, at her home on October 12, 2020, in Tridelphia, W.Va. Vance voted for Donald Trump in 2016 and will do so again on Election Day. “I look at my job as patriotic. What I do powers office buildings and homes, the grocery stores where people get their food, as well as schools and churches and companies that build things that build our country. We help keep the lights on and keep people warm as well,” she says
West Virginia
Coal Miner /
“Where Trump goes we all go,” says Kevin Backus, 32, of Mt. Lookout, W.Va., a coal miner at CONSOL Energy’s Harvey Mine in Sycamore, Pa. Backus has worked in coal mining for 10 years.
At the Harvey Mine, most of the miners are supporting President Trump, believing that his rollback of regulations has helped their industry survive.
In the early 1920s, coal miners accounted for 2% of the country’s workforce with over 800,000 miners. Today, there are about 45,000 coal miners left in the U.S. Pennsylvania is one of the nation’s largest coal producing states behind Wyoming and West Virginia, producing about 7% of the the coal.
Decline of Small Town Life /
“I’ll probably be one of the next ones to go,” says Lee Goldthwaite, 79, the caretaker of the Sheffield Township cemetery, as he walks through the tombstones.
Sheffield, the small Warren County town that sits along the edge of the Allegheny National Forest, shares a similar story to other rural Pennsylvania towns as the number of deaths outpace births and population loss accelerates. The town, which once was a hub for timber had the largest sawmill east of the Mississippi River, has lost nearly a quarter of the population it had 20 years ago. Many expect the decline of small-town life to be a topic in this presidential election.
Along Main Street, few businesses remain. The local bank and liquor store have closed, the town’s daycare shuttered as the number of children dwindled to the single digits. The local ambulance service was discontinued, and the town’s beloved Johnny Appleseed Festival doesn’t have enough volunteers or money to continue this year. When asked if the town has a doctor, Goldthwaite points through the cemetery. “The last doctor we had is buried right up the hill,” he says. While he sees the town’s decline firsthand, Goldthwaite isn’t ready to give up, “we’re gonna make it work,” he says.
Published in @washingtonpost.
Troy Balderson /
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Along the Promenade /
Daren Johnson, 64, busks on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017 along the promenade of the Loudoun Street Pedestrian Mall in Winchester, Va. Johnson, a retired school teacher and former supporter of Hillary Clinton, is exhausted by recent elections, but will vote in the upcoming gubernatorial election. Being uninsured and relying on a free healthcare clinic he cares deeply about the state of healthcare in America. Read more about this story in The New York Post.
Trump's America /
A cross painted with "It's not about religion! It's about relationships" stands in a yard along West 6th Street in East Liverpool, Ohio on Sept. 15, 2016.
Courtney Lally, 23, stands with her daughter, Gianna, 2, at her home in Munhall, Pa., home on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. Lally's sister, Jessica Lally, 25, and her boyfriend, Christopher Dilly, 26, were found dead by police after Jessica's 7-year-old daughter alerted a school bus driver that her parents were blue and she was unable to wake them. The two had overdosed on heroin.
Vacant business are reflected in an empty storefront in McKeesport, Pa., on Oct. 25, 2016.
Harrold Nelson, 60, stands in the street in front of his home in McKeesport, Pa., on Oct. 25, 2016. Few homes remain on Nelson's block, many of those that do remain are abandoned.
Donald Trump supporters cheer at a campaign stop at the Cambria County War Memorial Arena on October 21, 2016 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton continue to campaign as Election Day nears.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to supporters during a campaign stop at the Cambria County War Memorial Arena on October 21, 2016 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
Andy Stafford, a vendor from Sarasota, Florida, holds a Trump flag as he sets up his stand in the parking lot of the International Exposition Center prior to a campaign stop by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on October 22, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio. "I'm a Trump lover," says Stafford.
Students on a bus shout obscenities as they give the middle finger to Trump supporters lined up outside of the Cambria County War Memorial Arena prior to a Donald Trump campaign stop on October 21, 2016 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
A Trump supporters yells at members of the media during Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's campaign stop at the International Exposition Center on October 22, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio.
Bill Hummel, 69, who has worked as a tow-truck driver since 1959, sits in his tow truck in Youngstown, Ohio on Oct. 26, 2016.
A sign stands in a vacant lot in Youngstown, Ohio on Nov. 23, 2016.
A Trump supporter shows off his t-shirt as he stands in line outside of the Cambria County War Memorial Arena prior to a Donald Trump campaign stop on October 21, 2016 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
A billboard advertising protection for people losing their homes stands above a small car dealership in Youngstown, Ohio on Nov. 23, 2016.
A crew works at a demolition site of a historic building in East Liverpool, Ohio on Sept. 15, 2016.
A painting sits in a window in Downtown, Youngstown, Ohio on Nov. 23, 2016.
A supporter of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump listens on as he speaks during a campaign stop at the Cambria County War Memorial Arena on October 21, 2016 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
A Trump sign sits in a window in Youngstown, Ohio on Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2016.
Sam Cappelli of Boardman, Ohio watches the demolition of a historic building in East Liverpool, Ohio on Thursday, Sept. 15, 2016.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is on a television at the Golden Dawn in Youngstown, Ohio on Oct. 26, 2016.
Phillip Naples stands behind the bar at the Golden Dawn in Youngstown, Ohio on Nov. 19, 2016.
East Liverpool, Ohio sits on the edge of the Ohio River on Thursday, Sept. 15, 2016. The town, once a bustling steel and pottery town, now has a population of about 11,000 people and like many towns across the United States is facing a growing opiate problem.
Antonio Lake, 6, walks in front of a Trump sign in Youngstown, Ohio on Nov. 23, 2016.
Jean Barefoot, 58, reflects on the loss of her daughter, Jessica Lally, to a heroin overdose as she stands near her Munhall, Pa., home on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. Lally was found by police after her 7-year-old daughter alerted a school bus driver that her parents were blue and she was unable to wake them.
Tom Brophey, 77, sits in his barber shop along West 6th Street in East Liverpool, Ohio on Sept. 15, 2016. Brophey, who worked in the Crucible Steel plant, opened his barber shop after losing his job in the mill in 1982. "Everyone knows there's a problem, but no one knows how to fix it," he says speaking of the heroin problem the town faces. "Drugs are the economy now. It's like an infection. It spreads," he says.
Carl Venzeio, 77, a self-proclaimed supporter of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, stands in front of his trunk in Youngstown, Ohio on Oct. 26, 2016.
Steps lead to a vacant lot where a home once stood in McKeesport, Pa., on Oct. 25, 2016.
A giant statue of Donald Trump stands in a yard of a home along Route 982 just up the road from the Tin Lizzy, a 266-year-old tavern in Youngstown, Pa., on Sept. 26, 2016.
A closed sign hangs in front of a flag in a storefront in East Liverpool, Ohio on Thursday, Sept. 15, 2016.
I spent quite a bit of time traveling through West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania documenting the presidential election, communities struggles with the opioid epidemic, and life in America's Rust Belt. The images were published a variety of publications including STAT, The Daily Mail, The New York Post, The Dallas Morning News, The Washington Post, The Chicago Sun Times, The Times of Oman, The Boston Globe, The Oregonian, Forbes, Folha de S. Paulo, BBC and many others.
Street Musician /
Matthew Henc, 53, of Penn Hills plays his guitar along Penn Avenue in the Strip District on Sunday, May 29, 2016.