2023 Second Place: Photo Story

A Father
Devon Reynolds is a husband, barber, small business owner, food pantry director, advocate of legal gun ownership, and most importantly, a father. The motivation to open a barber salon and a food pantry all comes down to the legacy he wants to leave for his sons. “They are my reincarnation,” said Reynolds. “To see myself reincarnate before I die is a blessing.” Reynolds felt the need to obtain his pistol permit in 2020 as a means of protection, which he received in 2021. “There’s a high volume of crime, a low volume of compassion, and I have four boys I have to get home to.”

Devon Jr., 11, and Jayden, 4, kiss their father, Reynolds, on the cheek while hanging out outside his barber salon and food pantry in Rochester, N.Y. on April 6, 2022, during a “Feed The People” barbecue he hosted for those in need in the community.

Reynolds helps guests at a Thanksgiving Food Drive at the Sweet Ida Mae Food Pantry in Rochester, N.Y., on Nov. 22, 2022. Opening a food pantry is Devon’s approach to reducing gun violence, by fighting food insecurity in his neighborhood. According to a study from Common Ground Health, 30% of people living in the 14613 zip code, where Devon’s food pantry is located, are food insecure. “If a person doesn’t have to use a gun to get money or to hurt somebody to be able to pay for a meal fro their family for the week then I did my job,” says Reynolds.

Reynolds helps Jamear Stallings, second from right, learn to cut hair at a block party organized by New York State Senator Jeremy Cooney in Rochester, N.Y. on Sept. 10, 2022. Reynolds mentors both Stallings, and Anthony Beaman, left, as barber apprentices. Reynolds was hired by the City of Rochester to join the city’s Advance Peace Program within the Office of Neighborhood Safety, a group dedicated to assisting and mentoring young men who are at a high risk of becoming involved in gun crime, whether as a perpetrator or a victim.

Devon Reynolds walks by the horse-drawn carriage for the casket of Charles Robinson III on March 29, 2022. Robinson was killed on March 19 at a party on State St. in Downtown Rochester. Reynolds cut Robinson’s hair at his salon the day before he was killed. “We lose someone major every year. Ever since the Boys and Girls Club shooting.” In 2015, three young men were killed after exiting the Boys and Girls Club on Genesee St. in Rochester after leaving a basketball game.

Craig Carson, left, and E. [name withheld for privacy], both friends of Reynolds, help to clean up glass from the broken front door at Reynold’s barber shop in the Lyell-Otis neighborhood. A gunman opened fire into Devon’s second salon on Jan. 5, 2023, targeting a client. Nine bullets struck the salon, breaking a window, and the front door, and hitting a mirror inside. Fortunately, no one was shot. “I feel violated,” says Devon. “My initial feelings towards it were to get it back in blood, to revert to my old ways. It was a battle with my lower self and higher self to be able to want revenge but to know that it’s not worth it. I did not want to contradict myself as a person on the front line of violence prevention and in the same breath want to take another man’s life.”

Reynolds, left, and Naeem White, right, one of the barber’s at Reynolds’ salon, show their legal hand guns at Reynold’s Lyell-Otis neighborhood salon, shortly after Reynolds hosted a press conference related to the shooting. Reynolds was not at the salon at the time of the shooting. Reynolds acquired his New York State Pistol Permit in Feb. 2022, to legally carry a gun in a concealed area, as a means of protection. White is a licensed security guard.

Reynolds held a group therapy session with a local therapist for his team of barbers and hair stylists to decompress and talk through their feelings after the shooting at his Lyell-Otis salon in Rochester, N.Y. on Jan. 16, 2023. The plywood on the front door was a temporary fix as the glass was destroyed by bullets.

Reynolds looks around during a group press conference organized following a shooting on the steps of Franklin High School in Rochester, N.Y., on Jan. 16, 2023. The group was calling for more of a response from the Rochester City School District, specifically more safety and support for students. The shooting, which took place on Jan. 5, 2023, occurred when a gunman chased a 16-year-old student towards the school building, and opened fired at the student on the front steps. Two other students were on the steps at the time. According to many community members who saw security footage of the shooting, the gun jammed after shots narrowly missed the student, potentially saving the lives of the targeted student and the bystanders.

Reynolds, center, laughs with with Karon Davis, left, a barber, and Javon Bradley, right, a close friend of Reynolds, and founding member of Devon’s salons after running a Thanksgiving Food Drive at the Sweet Ida Mae Food Pantry in Rochester, N.Y. on Nov. 22, 2022. He opened the pantry in his grandmother’s name, Sweet Ida Mae, who used to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to feed those in need in her Harlem, N.Y., neighborhood. Devon says the pantry is a way to “keep her name alive.”

Reynolds’ youngest son, Elijah, 2, rests his hand on Reynolds hand during a family outing at Chuck E. Cheese in Greece, N.Y., a nearby suburb of Rochester on Nov. 12, 2022. Reynolds has been married to his wife Lisa for three years, and Elijah is his mother. Reynolds has half custody of the rest of his children.

Devon walks his son, Elijah, into the atrium at First Genesis Baptist Church on Sept. 25, 2022, for National Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims, an event put on by ROC The Peace, a grassroots organization based in Rochester working to combat gun violence.

Reynolds feeds his son, Elijah, while watching the movie “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” with 2 of his other sons, Devon Jr. and Karter at Greece Ridge Mall on April 26, 2022. “Black wealth, ownership, being able to identify who they are before they hit their twenties, and hopefully a stronger sense of family a mother or father in the household, black love. That’s my goal.” said Reynolds, of his goals for his sons.”

2023 Second Place: Photo Story

Second Place: Vincent Alban