Katie Linsky Shaw, Photojournalist

On a busy Saturday at a sports facility in Gatlinburg, Tenn. while soccer teams in cleats and shinguards competed outside, kids with cubes and timers worked hard inside trying for the best time solving a mechanical puzzle. The event is held annually as part of the World Cube Association which governs competitions for "twisty puzzles." It's also become a popular attraction for kids and teenagers who prefer the problem-solving pastime to more traditional sports.

They’re a playful, colorful, often misunderstood community of artists, gamers, role players and creatives - sometimes clad in adorable, giant animal costumes - who share a love of anthropomorphized animal characters. And almost a 1,000 of these "furries" gathered at the Crown Plaza in Asheville, NC, recently for the second annual BlueRidge FurFare. Welcome to the world of furry fandom! I’ve had my eye on this community since first spotting them in Asheville a few years ago. It’s a strange sight to see - oversized, animal characters hanging out on a downtown...

The most isolated islands of the Florida Keys can be reached with a two-hour ferry ride from Key West to Dry Tortugas National Park. The park, about 70 miles southwest of Key West, is made up of seven islands and preserves Fort Jefferson, an unfinished coastal fortress and largest brick masonry structure in the Western Hemisphere. Dry Tortugas most recently took a direct hit from Hurricane Ian. The island did endure significant damage but has recently reopened parts of the park to visitors. Visitors can travel to Dry Tortugas on the Yankee Freedom catamaran or by seaplane. Reservations are...

After more than a year of shut-downs - including all things wild and weird that once helped Asheville, North Carolina earn the title of quirkiest town - one of it’s more unique events is back. The Miss Gay Latina pageant will be held Nov. 20 at the Diana Wortham Theater. I photographed backstage at the 2019 pageant, featured in these images and the last one before pandemic closures. Miss Gay Latina started as a small drag event in 2008 organized by founder and producer Elio Gonzalez who was born in Cuba and has lived in Asheville for many years. The pageant evolved over the years...

Since COVID-19 overtook our world more than a year ago, the casualties have been countless. From the enormous number of lives lost to the virus to the school year and memories that morphed into months of solitary virtual learning, it’s been hard. For me, my family’s casualty is still with us. Simply put, I lost my dad to the lockdown. My father had a stroke nine years ago that caused left-side neglect and cognitive dementia. His short-term memory was impaired and his ability to move about was greatly affected. But he was still able to live with my mother in an apartment behind...

Thousands of colorful, creative and talented individuals gathered in downtown Asheville, North Carolina on Sept. 24, for the 2022 Blue Ridge Pride Festival. The festival is held each fall to promote equality, safety and quality of life for the LBGTQ community in Western North Carolina. This year's theme was "Inclusion, Ya'll." The event regularly attracts 14,000-18,000 people. Vendors were set up throughout Pack Square Park selling merchandise and apparel with inclusivity messages. Local organizations focusing on social justice, faith, education and community service...

Rome, you’re a hot, grungy, “in need of a haircut” kind of city, but like a woman who goes after the bad boy, I think I love you. And while a few of your days hit high temps usually reserved for August, registering 105 degrees at one point, you still lured me from the air-conditioned apartment to your cobblestoned alleyways to search for that perfect, Audrey Hepburn, “Roman Holiday” moment. I think I found a few. There were the tired tourists exhausted after a busy day; several pups on the piazza making their nightly stroll; a well-timed entry into St....

On the western coast of Michigan, sits a sandy parcel of land unique to this forested, northern state. The enormous sand dunes of Silver Lake State Park attract visitors to its 450 acres inside the 3000-acre park for dune buggy rides and to explore this unusual natural phenomena. The sand dunes are a result of massive ice sheets that covered the area millions of years ago. Simply put, glaciers transported sand and other materials to the area and winds from Lake Michigan formed the dunes. What remains is a beautiful, otherworldly site of steep, white sand hills bordered by Lake Michigan on...