A homeless man takes food from a trash can in Los Angeles' Skid Row area, home to the nation's largest concentration of homeless people in Los Angeles.
Andrew Hudson injects himself with heroin next to an angel statue in the Skid Row area of downtown Los Angeles. "It's miserable quitting or trying - trying anything," said Hudson. Skid Row is home to thousands of chronically homeless people on the edge of the downtown. No one shares the same story of how they ended up in the center of poverty and despair. The streets are ruled by drugs day and night. Help exists, but too many turn to drugs to cope with their problems.
A homeless drug addict, who goes by Barbie, smokes crystal meth in his tent in downtown Los Angeles. The latest nationwide homeless count shows that 4 of every ten people living on the street have a severe mental illness or have a serious drug addiction.
A mentally ill homeless man stands on a piece of cardboard on a sidewalk in Los Angeles. A controversial bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom could improve that by forcing people suffering from severe mental illness into treatment. But they need to be diagnosed with a certain disorder, such as schizophrenia, and addiction alone doesn't qualify.
Jenn Bennett, who is high on fentanyl, sits on her skateboard with a visible black eye as her friend, Jesse Williams, smokes the drug in Los Angeles. The use of fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid that is cheap to produce and is often sold as is or laced with other drugs, has exploded. Because it's 50 times more potent than heroin, even a small dose can be fatal. It has quickly become the deadliest drug in the nation, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. Two-thirds of the 107,000 overdose deaths in 2021 were attributed to synthetic opioids like fentanyl, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.
Los Angeles police officer Shad Stilkey performs CPR on a homeless man who collapsed after a physical altercation over a coat with another homeless person in Los Angeles. The 33-year-old man died of asphyxia and neck compression, according to his autopsy report.
Forensic assistant Laurentiu Bigu left, and investigator Ryan Parraz from the Los Angeles County coroner's office covers the body of a homeless man found dead on a sidewalk in Los Angeles. The 60-year-old man died from the effects of methamphetamine, according to his autopsy report. Nearly 2,000 homeless people died in the city from April 2020 to March 2021, a 56% increase from the previous year, according to a report released by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Overdose was the leading cause of death, killing more than 700.
A homeless man sleeps on the sidewalk in downtown Los Angeles.
Stephanie Williams, 60, cools off with water from a hydrant in the Skid Row area of Los Angeles.
Victoria Filipy, who lives in a small homeless RV encampment with her dogs, fills water bottles from a fire hydrant in Los Angeles.
In this photo illuminated by an off-camera flash, several homeless people stand next to their tents across the street from a luxury apartment building in Los Angeles. A new study by the University of California, San Francisco, shows that homeless people in California were struggling with poor health and deep poverty before becoming homeless.
Tucked in a sleeping bag, Danny, a 60-year-old homeless man who only gave his first name, lies on an overpass above the 101 Freeway, one of the nation's busiest freeways in Los Angeles. Although he never feels safe sleeping on the street, Danny said the noise from the freeway doesn't bother him much. "You get used to it after a while."
A man walks up the steps of SHARE!, the Self-Help And Recovery Exchange office in Los Angeles. The organization offers recovery programs for drug addicts, alcoholics, and gamblers.
Inmate firefighters walk along Highway 120 after a burnout operation as firefighters continue to battle the Rim Fire near Yosemite National Park, Calif.
A firefighter battles the Silverado Fire in Irvine, Calif.
Herman Termeer stands on the roof of his home as the Blue Ridge Fire burns along the hillside in Chino Hills, Calif.
A firefighter carries a water hose as a large painting saved from a wildfire is propped against an SUV in the Bel Air district of Los Angeles.
Smoke rises from the Wallow Fire in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, Ariz.
Romelia Navarro, in protective gear, hugs her husband, Antonio, in his final moments in a COVID-19 unit at St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton, Calif.
Chaplain Kevin Deegan prays for COVID-19 patient Pedro Basulto while on a video call with the patient's daughter, Grace, at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in the Mission Hills section of Los Angeles. "These video calls have been a lifeline for families," said Deegan. "It can be emotionally exhausting and very draining, but it is also an honor to be a bridge for the family."
Farm worker Jorge Americano receives the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on his arm, which bears a tattoo depicting Jesus, at Tudor Ranch in Mecca, Calif.
A physician assistant uses a grabber to collect a nasal swab sample at a COVID-19 drive-thru testing site set up at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif.
Chaplain Kristin Michealsen holds the hand of a deceased COVID-19 patient while talking on the phone with the patient's family member at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in the Mission Hills section of Los Angeles. "I have never seen this much of death and suffering," said Michealsen, who has been a chaplain for 13 years. "I often tell families that I'm holding their loved one's hand when they can't and that I am with them when they are dying when they can't be."
Registered nurse Bryan Hofilena attaches "COVID Patient" stickers on a body bag of a patient who died of coronavirus at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Los Angeles. Hospitals across the country are struggling to cope with burnout among doctors, nurses, and other workers, already buffeted by a crush of patients from the ongoing surge of the COVID-19 delta variant and now bracing for the fallout of another highly transmissible mutation.
In this photo created with an in-camera multiple exposure, registered nurse Verlin Frazier, part of a group of nurses who had been treating coronavirus patients in an intensive care unit, stands for a photo in front of a patient board in the empty COVID-19 ICU at Providence Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, Calif.
In this photo created with an in-camera multiple exposure, registered nurse Debbie Wooters, part of a group of nurses who had been treating coronavirus patients in an intensive care unit, holds a group picture taken with her fellow nurses in the empty COVID-19 ICU at Providence Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, Calif.
Lava erupts from fissures in the Leilani Estates subdivision near Pahoa, Hawaii.
Center lane lines are partially visible along the lava-covered road in the Leilani Estates subdivision near Pahoa, Hawaii.
A woman, who declined to give her name, is hugged by her husband as they chat between the border fence separating Nogales, Ariz., and Nogales, Sonora, Mexico.
A mother and her two daughters embrace one another while visiting a memorial at a town square in Uvalde, Texas, to pay their respects to the victims killed in last week's elementary school shooting.
Orange County Sheriff's deputies take a protester into custody near the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump held a rally at the convention center.
Vlada Ryabets, left, leans on her fiance Ivan Soroka, a 27-year-old former Ukrainian soldier blinded in the war, at a rehabilitation center designed for soldiers who lost their vision on the battlefield near Rivne, Ukraine, as they gather for a birthday party for former soldier Oleksandr Zhylchenko.
A church personnel salvages items while helping clean up inside the Odesa Transfiguration Cathedral after it was heavily damaged in Russian missile attacks in Odesa, Ukraine.
People try to stay in line to get disaster relief supplies at the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division's forward operating base in Port-au-Prince. The massive international aid flowing into Haiti after last week's earthquake has been struggling with logistical problems, and many people are still desperate for food and water.
Phara Thes, 21, holds her newborn baby Jims Silvera at the US 82nd Airborne Division's forward operating base in Port-au-Prince. International aid flowing into Haiti after last week's earthquake has been struggling with logistical problems, and many people are still desperate for food and water.
Two earthquake survivors carry a mattress at a refugee camp in Port-au-Prince. International aid flowing into Haiti after last week's earthquake has been struggling with logistical problems, and many people are still desperate for food and water.
Wearing a Superman costume, Toly Shtapenko, of Ukraine, takes a long stride along the Hollywood Walk of Fame to impress tourists in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. While the Hollywood we see in movies is a place of glamour and beautiful celebrities, the cast of superheroes filling Hollywood Boulevard is frequently anything but. Many are people struggling to make a buck as they pursue their dream of stardom.
Superhero impersonator Justin Harrison, left, rides a Metro train wearing a Superman costume on his way to Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles. "I always go out in a costume," said Harrison. "I love seeing people happy and seeing them smile."
The Space Shuttle Endeavour slowly moves along city streets on a 160-wheeled carrier in Inglewood, Calif. After slowly surmounting a key obstacle, the shuttle Endeavour maintained a heading Saturday through the streets of Los Angeles toward its retirement home at a museum.
A large crowd of mask-wearing commuters walk through Shinagawa Station in Tokyo. The government has indicated it sees the next couple of weeks as crucial to containing the spread of COVID-19, which was discovered in China in late 2019.
Wearing school uniforms, students at Yamano Beauty College bow to a speaker during a ceremony held to celebrate the school's 83rd-year anniversary in Tokyo. More than 1,200 students from all over Japan are attending the school to be hair stylists or makeup artists.
A car drives along the Olympic lane near the Olympic Park at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 29, 2012, in London.
South Africa's Tsholofelo Thipe prepares to compete in a women's 400-meter heat during the athletics competitions of the 2016 Summer Olympics at the Olympic stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016.
In this overexposed photo, sprinters are introduced before the men's 100-meter final as they are backdropped by empty seats at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 1, 2021, in Tokyo.
A waitress serves a table in protective gear in a restaurant inside the Shangri-La Hotel at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022, in Beijing.
Workers disinfect the ice rink after the women's gold medal hockey game at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022, in Beijing.
A man walks by angel wings used as part of a store display in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Tuesday, May 7, 2019
Workers clean the floor at Petco Park before a baseball game between the San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers in San Diego.
A man is dwarfed as he walks past The Broad Museum in downtown Los Angeles. The contemporary art museum was founded by philanthropist Eli Broad in 2015.
A man takes pictures of the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. The museum is located in the Miracle Mile neighborhood of Los Angeles.
In this photo taken with a drone, two surfers wade through water in Huntington Beach, Calif.
People stand in Rain Room, an immersive installation by the London-based artist collective Random International, during a staff preview at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in Los Angeles.
A woman enters an exhibition hall at NTT Intercommunication Center in Tokyo, featuring an interactive installation artwork titled "Kinesis #3—Dissolving Field" by Hiroaki Umeda.
Thousands of candles are arranged in the shape of the Milky Way to celebrate Tanabata, a Japanese star festival, at Zojoji Temple in Tokyo.
