#111: Madison Thorn | “Sacrifice the Weak, Re-open Tennessee”

Working as a music photographer for close to a decade, Madison Thorn, a Nashville resident and hard-headed Type 1 Dia-Badass, has captured portraits of some of the greatest talents in the business. But when the pandemic brought her career to a grinding halt and tensions began to mount, Thorn shifted focus and created “High Risk Humans”, a photo series meant to share the faces and stories of those deemed ‘High Risk’ while trying to inspire empathy. Her subjects tell their stories in their own words, while she intuitively focuses on their strength and resilience; honoring these battle-tested warriors by listening to and sharing their hopes and fears for the present and future. As a Type 1 Diabetic, Thorn uniquely relates to her subjects as she too, shared their struggle of being deemed “High Risk”. Thorn is committed to changing any perception of weakness associated with those who have pre-existing health conditions. People of all ages and backgrounds fall into these groups, largely through no fault of their own, and they are worthy of having their stories heard.

Since vaccines were made available and live performances (somewhat) began again, Thorn dove back into the music scene but still strives to raise awareness for invisible illnesses and promoting the importance of caring for your neighbor.