Fireworks were launched from a new location on the National Mall (behind the Lincoln Memorial instead of in front of it) following President Donald Trump’s ‘Salute to America’ July 4th celebration.
While there were children locked up in detention centers for trying to seek out a better life with their parents, there were other children sitting on the shoulders of their parents watching President Donald Trump’s ‘Salute to America’ speech and celebration on the United States’ Independence Day.
President Donald Trump’s controversial July 4th ‘Salute to America’ cost $1.2 million, according to The Pentagon.
A boy sits on the shoulders of an adult at while waiting for President Trump to speak on the National Mall for the July 4th ‘Salute to America’ celebration.
Military aircrafts flew over the National Mall and the crowds during President Donald Trump’s ‘Salute to America’ on July 4, 2019.
![New Orleans City Park offers picturesque views surrounded by ancient oaks and willow trees. However, littering is a problem, not just decorating the ground but also the water as seen in this photo to the left of the swan. [April 29, 2019]](https://alexajulianaardportfolio.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/nola-city-park_april-2019_03.jpg?w=256&h=256&crop=1 "NOLA City Park")
New Orleans City Park offers picturesque views surrounded by ancient oaks and willow trees. However, littering is a problem, not just decorating the ground but also the water as seen in this photo to the left of the swan. [April 29, 2019]
![New Orleans City Park spans 1,300 acres, and in 2005, 95% of that was left in floodwaters for weeks after Hurricane Katrina. The Category 5 hurricane caused $43 million in damages to the park alone. But an outpouring of support and funding led to the repairing and improving of City Park as this photo shows 14 years later. [April 29, 2019]](https://alexajulianaardportfolio.files.wordpress.com/2019/07/nola-city-park_april-2019_01.jpg?w=256&h=256&crop=1 "New Orleans City Park")
New Orleans City Park spans 1,300 acres, and in 2005, 95% of that was left in floodwaters for weeks after Hurricane Katrina. The Category 5 hurricane caused $43 million in damages to the park alone. But an outpouring of support and funding led to the repairing and improving of City Park as this photo shows 14 years later. [April 29, 2019]
Assal Ravandi is a US Army Veteran who served in combat in Afghanistan where her greatest weapon was her language. Ravandi is an Iranian-American who speaks both English and Farsi.
Davon Goodwin is a US Army veteran, who suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury from an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in Afghanistan in 2010. Farming proved to be the perfect path for him after returning from war. It gives him a sense of peace from the PTSD he experiences as a result of his time serving in Helmand Province.
One of the kinds of grapes that US Army vet Davon Goodwin grows at a vineyard he manages in Raeford, NC are Muscadine grapes. During the month of September, Goodwin organizes an event called “Pick Your Own,” where the community has the opportunity to come to the vineyard and pick whichever grapes they’d like to buy.
Assal Ravandi is a US Army veteran who is the founder and CEO of a nonprofit that hosts an annual awards ceremony for veterans called The Vettys. She describes it as the “Oscars for veterans.”
Flags across the country are lowered to half staff after the mass shooting in Las Vegas that killed 50+ and injured 500+ people on Oct. 1, 2017.
Flags outside The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. are lowered to half staff following the mass shooting in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017.
A police officer in Trinidad reflects on the high crime rates consuming the country’s capital, Port of Spain.
Gangs have led to an increase in crime in Port of Spain, Trinidad. A nonprofit called the Pan American Development Foundation is working to introduce more ways to combat crime.
In a Trinidadian community called Never Dirty, Morvant, Mr. Assing worries every day about his son Ryan getting to and from school safely.
Demerey Kirsch is a cross country runner at the University of Nevada, Reno, but she’s also passionate about archery.
A marijuana smoker in Reno, Nev. lights up in his home for its supposed benefits as a sleep aid.
Some remnants of marijuana remain in a user’s pipe from the last time the individual smoked.
Steve Cantwell is a former UFC Fighter turned marijuana cultivator in Pahrump, Nevada. Here he’s shown clipping one of his marijuana plants, which is part of the cloning process.
Mariano was brought to the United States by his parents when he was 17 years old. He missed the cutoff to be eligible for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals by one year.
Activists in the Reno, Nev. community come together in support of immigration on the one-year anniversary of President Barack Obama’s executive order called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.
Just a few blocks from downtown in Reno, Nev. a topless bar is found behind a mural of President Abraham Lincoln.
The man behind many of the murals decorating Reno, Nev. is Joe C. Rock. One of his favorite people to paint portraits of is Abraham Lincoln.
“If I constantly question, ‘Why do bad things happen?’ then I also have to ask, ‘Why do good things happen?'” Rest in Peace, Jayme.
ALEXA JULIANA ARD 
Alexa, your photos are amazing! You really captured the feelings of the people in each picture. Fantastic eye for photography!
Thank you so much! 🙂