Charis is a young woman activist who has a debilitating condition called Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) - active inflammation of back bone. You can't really tell this by looking at her, but from what I understand, for her the pain is constant with some days being better than others. The first time I met her she was on crutches. On the day of our photo session she had shots in the neck which gave her some relief. Her disease may not be visible, but it changed her entire life. According to Charis, "Disability – in capitalism – is punished as a personal, moral and physical failure.”
Darya Ryan was born in Magadan, Russia (Siberia). In 2001 she immigrated to United States where she got her Associate of Arts degree in Humanities from Mt. San Jacinto Community College and the Bachelor of Science degree in Management Information Systems from CSUS. While attending CSUS, she had simultaneously worked for Goodchap Brand Identity, a prominent design firm in Sacramento, CA. Her current work features fine art, portraiture and editorial projects and has been published in many magazines, including ICON, NorCal, Editorial CQ Magazine, Morningstar, National Geographic, Social Documenta
