Wayne Lawrence visited Flint, Michigan, a city in national headlines for it's profoundly lead-poisioned water and frustrations because of government negligence. His intimate portraits are published by National Geographic with personal interviews with the residents of the city.
Wayne Lawrence, Keonna, Kirk, and Antionette Miles, Flint Michigan, 2016
“Several of my family members have been affected by the Flint water contamination,” Antionette Miles says (pictured right). “For months we had city officials tell us that it was OK to drink the water, even showed us that they were drinking the Flint water. We all had different types of illnesses going on but we never thought it was from the water.”
Von Lathan shares, “You know how many babies here is affected now man, for the rest of their lives? And to my understanding and my little research it’s irreversible once you get lead poison in the brain. It’s nothing you can do about it."
"The people in charge need to take responsibility for what they’ve done to this city, man! People out here are mad as hell man, and I’m one of ‘em.”
Read the entire story on nationalgeographic.com.