Cloud County

In the smoky hills region of the Great Plains lies Concordia, better known as Cloud County. This small town is like many others in the Midwest: neglected, underfunded and stricken with poverty. It’s also home to the Sisters of St. Joseph.

The Sisters of St. Joseph are an aging community, with the youngest member being in her 50s. The work they do within the neighborhood is vital, with many families relying on their services for survival. During my time staying in their community I was left with many questions, the biggest being, what will happen once the older generation goes and those younger age? What will happen to the Sisters of St. Joseph? Young women are not flocking to the congregation anymore. Those that have passed on are not being replaced by fresh blood. What will happen to this community, and where will these women's stories go?

I set off to capture as many of their stories as I could during my weeklong stay. Many of these women have been in the church for the majority of their lives and the stories they have to tell range from touching to daring. Women’s stories are so often unshared and forgotten, deemed by society as unimportant or simply not interesting enough. I think they deserve their place in history.

I hope to continue my portrait sessions and documentation of Concordia as a whole. My intention is to include audio snippets from my interviews to coincide with each woman's portrait.