Generation Gap: Grandparents Stretch to Fill In For Mom and Dad, Once Magazine: Issue 8
Story by Maddie McGarvey, and Taylor Wiles
Between 2001 and 2010, the number of children living in grandparent-headed households in the United States jumped 26 percent. The Castos, who are raising their three grandchildren in the absence of their parents, and families like theirs, are grappling with what it means to be a grandparent raising your grandkids as your own.
Although many such grandparents rely on kinship care aid from the state to help them make ends meet each month, the health of these programs has been touch-and-go, particularly since 2009. Foster care receives significantly more financial backing; but despite this gap in support, children who are put into homes with relatives have been found to have better school attendance and fewer behavioral problems.
Photographer, Maddie McGarvey, has spent over a year with the Casto family, photographing grandma Lorrie, grandpa Lee, and three of their grandkids, Paige, Seth and Sonya. Lorrie Casto says, “I would have money all month long if it wasn’t for the kids. But what else is a grandmother for?”
This story is a beautiful example of the kind of intimacy that turns a good photoessay into a great photoessay. It is clear that Maddie took the time to get to know Lorrie, Sonya, Paige, Seth and Lee. As a student at Ohio University, she visited the family on birthdays, Mother’s Day, and everything in between, and the result is a stunning investigation of what it means to be a family where Grandma and Grandpa double for Mom and Dad.
Once Magazine: An Update from the Team
Dear Readers and Subscribers,
Next week you’ll have a beautiful new issue of Once in your Newsstand: our ninth so far, including the pilot edition.
Together, we’ve come a long way. During these past months, we’ll have put out nine issues we’re extremely proud of. We hope you’ve loved them, too: it’s because of your support that we have been able to establish our place in the field of tablet publishing.
We want to keep bringing you new editions of Once. We expected the traditional challenges that come with independent publishing, and had (still have!) high hopes for the iPad, and what we can do on the platform. Many of those hopes have come true; and of course, some have not.
We want to put to use the knowledge and experience we’ve built with you over these past nine months. While we reorganize and prepare for our next iteration, we will bring you a series of singles—one story per issue, long-form, in-depth, and not to be missed. The first will launch on May 22nd, as our eighth official issue.
What might that mean for you?
If you’re a subscriber, the recurring monthly price will remain at $1.99. We communicated with Apple about lowering the cost of existing subscriptions, but found that the current infrastructure of Newsstand doesn’t allow for that yet.
We hope you’ll remain as subscribers: we think that the top-notch photographers in our upcoming singles are worth supporting, and they will continue to share in the revenue we generate from each issue you purchase, as always. However, we understand that you might be disappointed about the price of these singles: if you need instructions on how to cancel your subscription, you can check our page here.
That you subscribed in the first place we counted as proof that there were many people who believed that quality photojournalism was of real value, and worth funding. We hope you’ll remain in support of our belief in long-form photojournalism by continuing your subscription.
Since the launch of Once last year, you have rallied as a strong and supportive community who share our passion for documentary photography and our curiosity for new modes of storytelling. Thank you for helping us to bring the world’s top photographers to the iPad. We’re deeply grateful for your ongoing support. We would love to hear from you, here, on Twitter, or via email (hello@oncemagazine.com), and please enjoy this summer of singles!
- The Editorial Team
Retina iPad Update
Dear Readers,
Thank you for being so patient as we work to optimize our software for the retina iPad. We realize we’ve been slow (too slow) getting it out the door, but as is always the case with new software, it takes longer than expected to iron out the bugs. We’ve been coding and recoding for the past month, and we’re still at it. And we must say that as we test different builds, we’re always amazed at how good the photos look—it’s almost like a new magazine. A few more kinks to work out, and it should be ready. We’ll let you know as soon as it is.
Thanks for bearing with us.
Wouldn’t it be great to do a Once story from space? I wonder how NASA feels about rev. share…
From Images of Earth From Above, one of 39 photos. A view of Earth, the stars, and red and green auroras above cities in western North America, as seen from the International Space Station, on February 19, 2012. (NASA)
(via theatlantic)
Source: The Atlantic
Lens: Places Without Power (of Any Sort)
In California, unincorporated communities lack basic infrastructure, since no local government can finance it. Max Whittaker has been documenting these areas, which often exist alongside well-off enclaves.
The New York Times’ Lens blog spotlights the work that Max Whittaker shot for Once Magazine’s current issue. Check it out, and download the April issue here.
Source: The New York Times
