Globe photos of the month, June 2016 - The Boston Globe

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Life during the coronavirus pandemic
Globe staff photographers document the Boston area and beyond during this unprecented time. The gallery is updated weekly throughout the crisis.

A funeral home copes with the surge during the coronavirus pandemic
During normal times, Joe Ruggiero Jr. might hold 25 funerals a month; this April there have been 71. Due to a surge in COVID-19 cases, his family’s funeral home in East Boston is so overrun that the tribute lounge and cafe normally used to display portraits of the departed has been turned into a makeshift storage space. A thin white sheet of plastic held together with binder clips is all that separates the hallway from the caskets. The white board in the office downstairs is overflowing with funerals. Three on Wednesday. Four on Thursday. Five on Friday. Joe Jr., his son, Joe III, and his daughter, Catie, work tirelessly to make sure that everything is as perfect as it can be in order to bring some comfort to families in grief. They solve an endless string of coronavirus riddles, like what do you bury someone in when their family can’t go back into a nursing home to retrieve their clothing? Or how do you explain to families that they can’t have more than 10 people inside at a time? The biggest one of course, is how do you console someone when you can’t place a comforting hand on their shoulder? Families filter into Ruggiero Family Memorial Home all faced with the prospect of saying goodbye to a loved one without the comfort of an embrace. I photographed six funerals over three days, each death caused by COVID-19. A woman told me that her 100-year-old mother would have kept going if not for the virus. Her wake and funeral had six people in attendance. You could hear a pin drop in the chapel as they sat silently in rows of chairs spaced 6 feet apart. At the next funeral, there were a line of people in masks and gloves waiting outside to pay their respects to a 57-year-old father who was taken by COVID-19. Many used their cellphones to stream the funeral for those who couldn’t be there. One family member just wanted people to see how serious this was so that they would stay indoors.

Boston Globe staff photographer Erin Clark named Feature Photography Pulitzer finalist for 2020
Patrick Lupien and Mariah LeMieux-Lupien knew they were going to be evicted from their apartment in Biddeford, Maine. The lapse was a matter of basic math: As Mariah put it, when you don’t have it, you don’t have it. Despite Patrick’s $40,000 a year salary, the Lupien family became part of an often invisible group known as the “working homeless.” Their story illustrates the growing housing inequality that is prevalent in America today. The family’s hard road over the next six months - from eviction, to living in a campground, to homeless shelters, and then finally finding a home - offers a window into the insecurity and panic that comes with raising children on the brink of financial insolvency.

Photos: One day on the front lines of COVID-19
Jessica Rinaldi documented a Cataldo ambulance crew as they worked their 24-hour shift.

Globe staff photos of the month, March 2020
Here’s a look at some of the best images taken by Globe photographers last month before the coronavirus grabbed the region’s attention: the end of Elizabeth Warren’s 2020 presidential campaign, L Street ice swimmers practicing at Dorchester Bay, soap box derby racing, the Boston Flower & Garden Show, and the MIAA high school winter sports playoffs. Click here to see images from COVID-19 coverage.

Polar plungers: Photos of Ice Swimming in New England
In waters cold enough to kill, 93 competitors, who had to prove they could handle ultra-cold water to qualify, race in distances ranging from 25 to 200 meters during the Memphremagog Winter Swim Festival, held annually in Newport, Vt. “You can’t imagine anything being this cold,” said Laurie Craigen, a first-time competitor. She was part of a large crew that comes up each year from the L Street Bathhouse in South Boston, which is famed for its year-round ocean swimmers. There are documented dangers. One woman from San Francisco lost feeling in her fingertips for nine months after last year’s event. For Karen Nazor, a 57-year-old from Maynard, “It is about the reset.” She says that she can be having a bad week and one dip in frigid water will cleanse her brain. “And the aftereffect is euphoria. It’s like nothing else.” Photographs by Jessica Rinaldi

Globe staff photos of the month, February 2020
Here’s a look at some of the best images taken by Globe photographers last month: the New Hamphire primary, Ash Wednesday, living with progeria, the Beanpot Tournament, and Red Sox spring training.

Globe staff photos of the month, January 2020
Here’s a look at some of the best images taken by Globe photographers last month: the run-up to the Iowa Democratic caucus, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Boston’s State of the City address, celebrations of the new year, and the end of the Patriots’ season.

Globe staff photos of the month, December 2019
Here’s a look at some of the best images taken by Globe photographers last month: holiday seasonal events, the death of Pete Frates, Boston city council results, winter weather, and high school football championships.

Globe staff photos of the month, November 2019
Here’s a look at some of the best images taken by Globe photographers last month: Thanksgiving holiday, the loss of a firefighter, Women Veterans Appreciation Day, and high school sports playoffs.

Globe staff photos of the month, October 2019
Here’s a look at some of the best images taken by Globe photographers last month: fall colors, the king tide in Boston Harbor, Halloween celebrations, the Head of the Charles Regatta, high school sports, and the start to the Celtics’ regular season.

Globe staff photos of the month, September 2019
Here’s a look at some of the best images taken by Globe photographers last month: the aftermath of hurricane Dorian’s landfall in the Bahamas, students head back to school, confrontations at the Straight Pride Parade in Boston, the end of the Red Sox season and the Patriots off to a 4-0 start.