America

NOLA /  by Justin Merriman

People march in the street during the Prince of Wales 88th anniversary second line parade in New Orleans' Irish Channel neighborhood on Oct. 9, 2016. 

A car sits in the street of New Orleans.

The Prince of Wales second line parade makes its way down a street of New Orleans' Irish Channel neighborhood on Oct. 9, 2016. 

Men dance on a float with Queen Terry during the Prince of Wales second line parade in New Orleans on Oct. 9, 2016. 

A young boy stands on top of a concrete wall at a cemetery as he watches a second line parade pass by in New Orleans. 

A young boy holds a snake during a second line parade in New Orleans. 

Homes along a New Orlean's street. 

A home in New Orlean's Garden District. 

Steph looks out of the door of our Airbnb in New Orlean's Garden District. 

A mural on the side of a building in New Orleans. 

A voodoo shrine in the French Quarter on Monday, Oct. 10, 2016.

Chopokthiinitka Taiyi, whose name translates into “Hummingbird Woman,” is the last full-blooded member of the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana. With around 1,100 members today, many in the tribe have married into other tribal nations. Although, of its remaining members, 85 percent still speak Koasati, the native language. Known for their basket weaving, the Coushatta traditionally use Louisiana native longleaf pine needles to make their baskets.

Graves at St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 in New Orleans. 

A man holds his pet snake in New Orleans. 

The swamps in Des Allemands, La. 

A 12-foot-long alligator climbs aboard an airboat in Des Allemands, La.

A crucifix stands in the Holy Rosary Cemetery in Killona, La., as the Dow Chemical Plant looms in the background. 

A woman stands on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter with a sign asking for money for photos with her on Oct. 10, 2016. 

A sign in Voodoo shop window in New Orleans.

John Boutté sings his popular song 'The Treme Song' at a bar on Frenchman Street in New Orleans. 

A man in a cowboy hat listens to musicians play at a zydeco jam session at the Blue Moon Saloon in Lafayette, La on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2016. 

A drummer plays in a window of a bar along Frenchman Street in New Orleans on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2016. 

A woman leans against a car during the Prince of Wales second line parade in New Orleans on Sunday, Oct. 9, 2016.

I traveled to New Orleans with my fiance and fellow photographer Stephanie Strasburg for a little vacation in October. These are some of the images from our travels. 

Indigenous PeopleS' Day /  by Justin Merriman

Vanessa German of Homewood, center, joins a march celebrating Indigenous Peoples Day in Oakland on Monday, Oct. 12, 2015. 

Rhianna Powell, 23, of the South Side, holds a sign during the rally at the statue of Christopher Columbus in Schenley Park.

Johnny Creed Coe, a Native American and traditional sun dancer, burns sage during the rally at the statue.

Johnny Creed Coe burns sage.

Jayne May-Stim, 19, of Greenfield reacts to a speaker at a rally for Indigenous Peoples Day at the statue of Christopher Columbus in Schenley Park on Monday, Oct. 12, 2015. The rally called attention to "Indigenous Peoples' Day," a day many mark to honor the culture and history of Indigenous people rather than Columbus.

Hot Weather /  by Justin Merriman

United States Postal Service mail carrier Sue Mulkern takes a break along her mail route to cool off in four-year-old Destiney Dixon's pool in front of her home along Boyle Street on the North Side of Pittsburgh. "Everyday she waits for me," said Mulkern, "and today she asked me to take off my shoes and socks and get in and I said I think I will." Temperatures reached 90 degrees across the region and left many people to find some means of staying cool.

Huang Xiang /  by Justin Merriman

Huang Xiang, one of the greatest poets of 20th-century China, stands in front of his North Side home on Wednesday afternoon. The City of Asylum in Pittsburgh is providing a safe haven for Xiang to create his poetry and art. In China, Xiang was severely persecuted and spent nearly two decades of his life in re-education through labor camps and communist-operated factories and prisons.