CHIP LITHERLAND PHOTOGRAPHY

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Mennonite Joyce Sauder watches as a wildfire rages and inches toward her home in the Fox Creek neighborhood in east Sarasota, Florida. Sauder said that as she saw the flames approaching, "I prayed about it and it's whatever happens, happens."
   
Homeless minister Obadiah Franklin pauses to pray as he walks with a 12 ft. cross painted blood-red along Lime Ave. in Sarasota, Florida. Dressed in red from head-to-toe, Franklin travels the country to "lift up Jesus" to the masses whether it is to people living on the street or curious motorists who roll down their window to ask what he's doing.
   
Alan Mittelman and his fiance Barbara Freed of Philadelphia take in a dizzying painting by Thomas Zipp at The Rubell Family Collection in the Wynwood Art District in Miami, Florida. The collection is expansive in a 45,000 sq. ft. former D.E.A. confiscated-goods warehouse with contemporary works collected by the Rubell family since the 1960's.
     
  
   
A potential juror peers from behind the new cubicles in the Manatee County Judicial Center in Bradenton, Florida.
   
Members of the Capoeira Volta Ao Mundo studio do handstands as they practice on Siesta Public Beach in Sarasota, Florida. Capoeira is a Brazilian mix of dance and martial arts, which is growing in popularity across the region.
     
  
After being told to calm down, children hide underneath a table full of tamales during a Cinco de Mayo celebration at Samoset Elementary School in Bradenton, Florida. Parents and neighborhood volunteers got together at the school to host an all-day party where students got to learn about various aspects of Mexican culture, including a buffet of homemade traditional dishes.
   
  
Shadows of the Flying Wallendas project against the big-top while they create a pyramid on the high-wire during opening night of the Circus Sarasota in Sarasota, Florida. The family has roots dating back to the 18th century with generation after generation producing more death-defying performers.
     
  
Missy Hale of Winter Springs, Fla., zones out to her iPod as she gets tattooed by Jime Litwalk of Hart & Huntington Tattoo Co. in Las Vegas during the 8th annual Tattoofest in Tampa, Florida. Thousands of tattoo and body modification fans filled the Doubletree to meet new artists and show off their own skin and ink.
   
Liam Durett, 6, screams at the top of his lungs at Fruitville Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida, while cheering teachers competing in three-legged, stick horse, and tricycle races to celebrate the goals met by students in a reading challenge.
   
     
  
The shadows of seniors in the front row project against the stage at the Manatee High School graduation ceremony on Joe Kinnan's Field at Hawkins Stadium in Bradenton, Florida.
   
The Texas delegation is covered with balloons after President George W. Bush's speech at Madison Square Garden in New York City during the last night of the Republican National Convention.
   
The hand of a 1lb 10oz. premature baby, one-half of a set of twins, raises inside on of four General Electric Giraffe Omnibeds in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Sarasota Memorial Hospital in Sarasota, Florida. The hospital will be purchasing two more of the beds, which provide a micro environment for the development of the more severe preemie babies, through the efforts of the Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation.
     
  
Celeste Matthews, 15, with the ManaTeens gets help as she dressed up as a crash test dummy during the 14th annual Children's Summit at the Manatee Convention and Civic Center in Palmetto, Florida. Thousands flocked to this year's Summit for a mixture of free fun for kiddos and advice on raising children from local businesses and organizations.
   
Against a backdrop of stars, Grace Cremeens, 6, of Port Charlotte waits for the Sonshine Baptist Church youth group float to enter the parade route during the annual Chamber of Commerce Christmas Parade in Punta Gorda, Florida.
   
     
  
Kayla Hayes, 9, plays with large bubbles while hanging out with Bashaw Elementary students outside of the school during its 20th anniversary party in Bradenton, Florida.
   
  
     
  
Two girls pause as they play in the spotlight of a home during a neihborhood Halloween Party in the Panther Ridge development of Myakkay City, Florida.
   
  
Pine View seniors wait in the lobby for their graduation ceremony at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in Sarasota, Florida.
     
  
A swimmer soaks in the sun as he floats along the pool at a condominium complex on Siesta Key in Sarasota, Florida.
   
Breanna Gillick, 10, walks through a smokey hallway while waiting with hundreds to get her copy of the sixth installment of the Harry Potter books, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" during a pre-release party outside of the Little Bookworms in Bradenton, Florida.
   
Kerry Tice catches Carri Hill, 15, against a cloudy sky during a trapeze class behind the old Venice Circus Arena in Venice, Florida. "Tito's Gaona's Flying Fantasy Circus" summer camp teaches children 8-14 the basics of the trapeze and other circus skills.
     
  
Lead singer Jorge from the punk band The Casualties performs during the 2006 Vans Warped Tour at Vinoy Park in St. Petersburg, Florida. For under the price of a full tank of gas, thousands of punk rock fans filled the normally peaceful waterfront park for a day of over 50 bands on multiple stages.
   
Mei Zi Liu, 40, was forcibly sterilized by the Chinese government prior to seeking asylum in the United States, which she was denied by a New York Immigration judge who didn't believe her story. She works as a kitchen worker in St. Petersburg, Fla., where she lives in a small room with a mattress on the floor while fighting her case. She has two children she hasn't seen in over 5 years.
   
Manatee County Jail at Port Manatee inmates dig into the ground while building barbed wire fence in a cow-grazing pasture in Bradenton, Florida. Inmates who choose to work in the farming programs get a supervised breath of fresh air while working with cattle and doing ranching chores for the self-sufficent jail.
     
  
Shadows of chefs are projected against the wall by a spotlight during the awards ceremony during an "Iron Chef" competition at the Ritz-Carlton in Sarasota, Florida.
   
Danielle Pelletier dances in the spotlight on a pole in the middle of a packed Minxx Nightclub & DaVinci's Ultra-Lounge in Sarasota, Florida. The three venue night spot features the traditional packed dance club, a more-sedate adult lounge, and a stage featuring live local music acts.
   
A young woman drives past a mural in the Little Havana neighborhood in Miami, Florida. Little Havana is the cultural center for Cuban Americans, with candidates constantly making appearances in the politically active community.
     
  
An untitled piece by Anselm Reyle reflects a man taking in the Euro-Centric, Part 1 show at The Rubell Family Collection in the Wynwood Art District in Miami, Flordia. The collection is expansive in a 45,000 sq. ft. former D.E.A. confiscated-goods warehouse with contemporary works collected by the Rubell family since the 1960's.
   
Sarasota Ballet of Florida dancers practice a piece under the direction of new artistic director Iain Webb at the FSU Center for the Performing Arts in Sarasota, Florida, in preparation for their upcoming season.
   
Teens stroll across the orante marble terrace behind the Ca d'Zan mansion, which served as John and Mable Ringling's mansion, along the bayfront at the Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida.
     
  
Virginia Boller, 14, and her boyfriend Thomas Barrett, 15, of St. Petersburg find a quiet place away from the performances to rest at the ninth annual Vans Warped Tour 2003 at Vinoy Park in St. Petersburg, Florida.
   
Six children sleep on a torn mattress inside their dilapidated apartment in the Janie Poe housing project in Sarasota, Florida, which is struggling to win federal funding for reconstruction.
   
Long-time choir conductor Daniel Moe leads the Key Chorale during rehearsal with his singers at the Church of the Redeemer in Sarasota, Fllorida, in preparation for his final bow as their leader in faith.