Vanessa, thirty-five, had three children with an abusive husband. She “lost her mind, started doing heroin”, after losing the children, who were taken away and given to her mother. The drugs led to homelessness and prostitution. She grew up on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, but now spends her time in Hunts Point, “trying to survive everyday. Just doing whatever it takes”.

This October 25, 2014 photo provided by the U.S. Geological Survey shows lava flow advancing across the pasture between the Pahoa cemetery and Apa'a Street, engulfing a barbed wire fence, near the town of Pahoa on the Big Island of Hawaii. Dozens of residents in this rural area of Hawaii were placed on alert as flowing lava continued to advance. Authorities on Sunday, October 26, 2014 said lava had advanced about 250 yards since Saturday morning and was moving at the rate of about 10 to 15 yards an hour, consistent with its advancement in recent days. The flow front passed through a predominantly Buddhist cemetery, covering grave sites in the mostly rural region of Puna, and was roughly a half-mile from Pahoa Village Road, the main street of Pahoa. (Photo by AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)

Tourists pay a visit to Edradour distillery on March 26, 2012 in Pitlochry, United Kingdom. (Photo by Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images)

A period of relative stability has put the Iranian capital No1 on the list of world cities that have achieved biggest improvements in liveability over the past five years, as calculated by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The “most improved” top 10 contains some unexpected names. So, eg, the fourth place: Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Latest ranking: 128; Ranking five years ago: 131; Five-year index movement: 3.8%. Here: A supporter of Ivory Coast president Alassane Ouattara campaigns in a market in the city’s Koumassi quarter. (Photo by Sia Kambou/AFP Photo)

LA-based photographer Mike Kelley has been working on his amazing “Airportaits” for two years. He racked up racked up more than 74,000 air miles on 25 flights to complete the series. (Photo by Mike Kelley/SWINS)

A dog jumps into a swimming pool to retrieve a ball during the Chatsworth House Country Fair near Edensor, Britain on August 31, 2018. (Photo by Darren Staples/Reuters)

In this Monday, June 10, 2019 photo, an Indian Rabha tribal Hindu priest pours traditional rice beer to a Rabha girl to perform rituals during Baikho festival at Pantan village, west of Gauhati, India. Every year, the community in India’s northeastern state of Assam celebrates the festival, to please a deity of wealth and ask for good rains and a good harvest. (Photo by Anupam Nath/AP Photo)

A gull gives its familiar cry on the roof of a beach bar on the Baltic coast on July 16, 2024. (Photo by Jens Büttner/dpa)