Street News Service - Photo Story (Feed 213)

The disappeared

Melissa Walsh is 30 years old and a Street Roots vendor. Diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, a high-functioning form of autism, Melissa moved from Spokane in July with her husband Sean after they lost their home to foreclosure. In this revealing and personal photo shoot Leah Nash shows you the daily realities faced by Melissa. Melissa writes her feelings to help communicate. "I feel like I disappeared off the face of the Earth", explains Melissa as she recalls the emotion of being fired. "I feel like I disappeared when my job did." Leah Nash is a Portland-based photographer with a passion for documenting the everyday and the extreme, which she often finds are one and the same.  She holds a master's degree in photojournalism from the University of Missouri and in 2004 was awarded a Fulbright Grant to photograph the AIDS crisis in India. 

Story and pictures by Leah Nash, Street Roots, USA, © Street News Service: http://www.street-papers.org/www.street-papers.org. [Pictures are available in high resolution, please email sns@street-papers.org]