On my way out of this historic Atlanta church, where civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. once served as co-pastor with his father, I found this Labrador Retriever guide dog curled up on the bright red carpet below a pew in the back of the hall. On the seat above it rests a National Park Service Ranger’s hat, wrapped within a ranger’s jacket. Its master, the National Park Service ranger who manned the desk at the church entrance, is handicapped. The dog seems totally at home here – yet it also seems to take responsibility for watching after its absent master’s property, even though it is off duty at the moment. The human values expressed by this image are abundant: relaxation, loyalty, responsibility, protection, and cooperation are all implied here in an extremely humane manner. The religious context amplifies the values and adds meaning.

This young student has momentarily detached himself from his schoolmates as they toured the historical exhibits in Georgia’s State Capitol building. He lowers himself to the floor to get a closer view of the contents of a showcase. My camera found him as he became totally absorbed in what he was seeing. He never even looked up. He was studying objects that represented part of his state’s long and troubled history, and was reading the captions about them with awe etched upon his face. Human values such as knowledge and discovery underscore this image, while the warm, reflected light from the showcase implies further values such as innocence and wonder.

I made this shot from a moving bus. The early morning light illuminates the edges of the bus shelter to create a glowing frame around the lone woman who waits patiently within. The light also catches the tops of her shoes and one knee – she seems suspended in in time and space. She ignores the large advertisement that stares at us from within the shelter. The light draws the eye beyond the shelter as well – leading to another large advertisement, well outside the shelter. While indistinct, it still echoes the shape of the poster within the shelter. Patience is a human value, and it is well defined by this image.

Three women wait for a bus in a steady drizzle. Two of them hold young children, one wrapped in a blanket, the other in a garbage bag. The human values expressed in this image are perseverance, patience, and protection. The intent expressions of the women, along with the pair of bundles held closely to their bodies, convey these values to the viewer.

I found these teenagers waiting for customers in a stall at Cuenca’s huge Fiera Libra Market. They seem to echo each other’s hand gestures, each of them supporting their heads in a gesture of complete rest. Relaxation, boredom, and patience, are all human values that can be expressed by this image.

This woman is waiting for customers to stop at her clothing stall, one of many that line the huge market in the center of Cuenca’s old city. She wraps herself in jewelry and a shawl, staring impassively at the potential customers who flow past her stall. I see the human values being expressed here as patience, wisdom, experience, and resignation – she has obviously been doing what she does for a long time, and seems to accept the nature of her business. A figure of a man, perhaps a customer who has chosen to rest here for a moment, stands back to back with her, offers a striking background contrast to the white shawl.