From Palestine to Congo to Turtle Island ~ our brothers and sisters are crying out.
The same machinery of greed that poisons water at Standing Rock is bombing children in Gaza, mining the bones of the Congo, and silencing those who dare to protect the Earth.
This is not separate. It’s the same system of domination ~ colonial, capitalist, patriarchal ~ devouring life itself.
We can’t look away anymore.
We can’t stay numb, scrolling through genocide.
We must rise together - artists, mothers, activists, dreamers ~ to defend the sacred.
Every voice counts. Every act matters. Every prayer ripples outward.
Stand with those who still believe another world is possible.
Because if one child suffers, we all do.
And if one rises, we all rise.
Thank you @irreconcilable_one 🙏🏼
1st Feb 2017 at Standing
Rock North Dakota at a protest against a pipeline. Photo by Ryan Vizzions @amodernghost
#EachLifeSacred #FreePalestine #Congo #StandingRock #WaterIsLife #RiseTogether #Decolonize #ProtectTheSacred
Thousands of community members packed the corner of Portland Ave and 33rd St. this evening in Minneapolis. The sudden vigil was held for Renee Good, a fellow neighbor & mother murdered by ICE agents this morning.
For nearly a decade I have dedicated my life to documenting the stories that matter & sharing them with the world. From the border of Mexico, to divestment actions in NYC, this tireless work as an independent photographer has taken me across the nation more times than I could count. I couldn’t be more thankful.
Although I wish more people would mobilize into action, I also understand a lot of my financial support comes from those who can’t make it into the streets.
If you can’t make it to the frontlines, consider supporting someone who can. Be it $1, $5 or $20 a month, every bit goes a long way. This work isn’t easy, and it sure isn’t cheap.
Every photo I share here, be it from the front lines of social issues, to dairy farmers in Vermont, is 100% funded by every day people who believe in my work
Consider supporting frontline, Independent Photojournalism.
Love y’all.
(Link in bio)
*consider sharing if possible.
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Today I turn 44.
I have a lot to be thankful for today. Over the last decade, I’ve focused on doing the inner work to be a better version of myself. Overcoming alcohol abuse to living a drug & alcohol free lifestyle, to working through PTSD and trauma, to focusing on my passions and dreams, I’m very thankful for the person I have grown into.
More importantly, I am incredibly thankful for the people in my life. Through hard work, grit & determination, I’ve have been able to turn my dreams into a reality, using my passions and skill sets for the world I believe in. But none of that would be possible without the love, care & support of friends, family and the larger community here on social media.
Working outside the scope of a traditional photography career, my project has only been possible thanks to those who directly make my work possible. Through print and gallery sales, to Patreon, I have been able to chase my wildest dreams while working for and on behalf of a larger community.
Both Freedom and I thank you all so much. Love y’all.
I don’t ask for much, but if you’d like to support my work, consider becoming a Patreon member: link in bio.
If you’d like to chip in a couple dollars to help me by myself a bicycle as a birthday gift, you can do so at:
Venmo: @ RyanVizzions
PayPal: @ amodernghost
Cashapp: $ryanvizzions
Each day I am coming closer to completing my photography book, and cannot wait to share it all with you.
Love you all, again, and thank you for everything.
Approaching 6 years since I first began my photography book project of photographing the United States, both to understand what it means to be an American, and where we exist as a nation. From coast to coast, to Alaska, to the Everglades, I have searched to understand what divides us, but also what connects us. Constantly putting myself in vulnerable and uncomfortable positions, I’ve made the best effort I can to photograph not only the world I want to believe in, but also the opinions I dont align with. To create a book of this country, I’d be doing both myself and this work an injustice by only showing half the story.
And that’s only the documentary work.
The landscape and symbolism is a whole other story to tell.
Here are a few images from the mountain of photographs along my travels.
Thank you to everyone who makes this work possible.
Special thank you to the homies over at @southsidebattletrain for allowing us at Renee’s vigil to walk alongside our friend Terry during the MayDay Parade yesterday.
Terry, better known a “Dino-Cologist”, spent the harsh winter across Portland Ave, supervising us as we cared for Renee’s vigil. To see him transformed into such a wonderful piece of rolling art for the community was such a glow up for our pal.
🙏
In the heart of the Black Hills sits Pe’Sla, “the heart of everything that is”. This sacred site for the Lakota people is currently under attack by an illegal mining company, threatening the spiritual center of the Oceti Sakowin, or 7 Fires of the Lakota Nation.
This morning Indigenous youth took action, locking down to construction equipment and halting the mining exploration company dead in its tracks.
Tune in, pay attention, and find out how you can help defend Indigenous Sovereignty.
Follow @ndncollective for updates, information & how you can help.
2026 marks the 10th anniversary of the Standing Rock Movement (NODAPL), an Indigenous-led resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline.
In late 2015, word began spreading about Dakota Access, a 1,172 mile oil pipeline which would pass through lands considered unceded territory under an 1868 treaty, lands they consider sacred, and eventually under the Missouri River just north of the Standing Rock reservation. Seventeen million people downstream, including the Standing Rock and Cheyenne River tribes, rely on water from the river. A group of Indigenous youth runners held a prayer run to deliver a message rejecting the pipeline to the Army Corps’ regional office in Omaha, informing tribal communities along the way. The youth then continued onward, eventually running all the way to the ACoE headquarters in Washington DC.
In April 2016, a group of Lakota established Sacred Stone prayer camp on the edge of the Cannonball River. What began as a small resistance eventually grew to a number of protest camps, including Sacred Stone, Rosebud & Oceti Sakowin camp. With over 100,000 people, including representatives from over 300 tribal nations passing through these camps, NODAPL became one of the largest gatherings of tribal nations in the history of the United States.
On December 5th of 2016, the Obama administration halted approval for the pipeline, calling for heightened environmental review. Only a month later, Donald Trump came into office, restarting the pipeline construction as one of his first Executive Orders during his first term.
After ten years, DAPL continues operating without a final permit. #NoDAPL
Images courtesy of Ryan Vizzions 📸 @amodernghost
Ryan Vizzions: January 7th, 2026 - After the murder of Renee Good by a masked federal agent, a vigil was held in her honor. Upward of 10,000 Minnesotans showed up to pay their respects at the location she was killed
On January 5, 2026 Vizzions was in Lake Superior, Minnesota, and arrived January 7 in Minneapolis to document the spontaneous memorial for Renee Good, who was killed by an ICE officer earlier that day.
For nearly 3 months since Good's murder, Vizzions was part of a dedicated group of volunteers watching over the site, he even extinguished an attempted arson at the memorial site. He has been diligently creating an archive what mourners have left behind.
Now on exhibit at The Photography Show presented by @aipadphoto , April 22-26 in booth B10
“It's really important for me … to make sure that we preserve these items for future generations” -- Ryan Vizzions
ICE just confirmed it’s using Graphite, a powerful spyware developed by Israeli firm Paragon Solutions that can penetrate encrypted messaging platforms, it silently hijacks your phone without a single click.
They won’t say who they’re targeting. They won’t cite a legal basis. And nothing in their statement rules out using it against protesters.
This isn’t a foreign surveillance story. It’s a domestic one.
Source: NPR
📸 @amodernghost “FACES OF FASCISM: Minneapolis”
#news
A photograph of an ICE agent taken outside of the Whipple building in Minneapolis, moments after this agent stole an American flag from and anti-ICE protestor.
I never released this image before, due to the optics it could have played with pro-ICE propaganda. But now that Bovino is gone, Noem is fired & ICE agents are basically overpaid waterboys at the moment, I’d like to share it now.
