I met Steve (known as Ponytail Steve) for the first time when I visited the Chicago Recovery Alliance, and over the next couple of years I got the opportunity to photograph him a few times… I can honestly say he was beautiful. However the main reason I wanted to photograph him was because he had spent so much of his life saving lives, including the lives of people I know.
For years Steve had been using drugs in Chicago, he even features in a video where his life is saved by naloxone. During those years he was also administering and giving naloxone to his peers, saving hundreds of lives. As a friend of mine said to me last night “Steve probably saved more lives than most paramedics”. Steve started working with the Chicago Recovery Alliance becoming a community health educator and even becoming a board member for the organisation.
Getting to photograph Steve was a privilege, I glad I had the opportunity to meet him.
