Cover story for The New York Times Magazine
Photographer based in Brooklyn, New York.
For assignments, licensing, print sales and exhibition requests:
hey@oliverfarshi.com | +1.510.545.6383
Paula Ritchie Wasn’t Dying
for The New York Times Magazine
In Canada a chronically ill woman ends her life with medical assistance, raising urgent questions about choice, care, and dignity.
On assignment for The New York Times Magazine.
Photo Editor: Kristen Geisler
Director of Photography: Jessica Dimson
Paula Ritchie’s life was shaped by childhood abuse, multiple suicide attempts, and a head injury from an assault. She lived with chronic pain and mental-health challenges but was not terminally ill. After a long effort to be approved for MAID, Paula was granted access.
Paula's friends tended to the sidetable beside her bed. They had gathered objects that were important to her: a bible, a scented candle, fresh flowers, and a clock.
Alongside two nurses and the doctor who would administer the medication, several people close to Paula, including her neighbor from Smith Falls, Ontario, were present. Each said a final goodbye before the doctor began the MAID process.
The medication for Paula's death, carried in a traditional doctor's bag, took several minutes to prepare.
Before assisting Paula with her death, the doctor went to the kitchen to prepare several medications to be injected. This included propofol, which he referred to as, "milk of amnesia."
Once the process began, the medication would take moments before Paula was asleep and then dead. Guests comforted Paula as the doctor returned with the medication.
“I’m going to take Paula’s hand now." The doctor began injecting each medication into the line on Paula's right arm.
In Paula’s final moments, the room was quiet. Her childhood friend knelt at the foot of the bed, and her death doula joined her.
Paula had been worried that dying would be painful. The doctor explained to her that once he began injecting the medication she would feel relaxed and fall asleep.
Soon after the medication was administered, the doctor returned to confirm her death and make a note of the time.
Paula’s neighbor and close friend sat with her body for several hours before the funeral home transporters arrived.
Later in her life, Paula had struggled to care for herself. Her nails had grown long and bathing was a challenge.
As the sun set and each guest left Paula's home, two of her friends stayed with the body until it was collected. They then packed up the remaining chairs and left.
A Place to Die
awarded by World Press Photo & CPOY
This self-initiated project is a about a unique house where terminally ill people come to take prescribed life-ending medication under the care of death doulas.
World Press Photo Exhibition 2025
Centre de Cultura Contemporania de Barcelona, Spain
This story takes place at a house unlike any other in the United States. There are no residents and guests are accompanied by a death doula.
Terminally ill people visit this house to spend their final hours before drinking a medication that ends their life.
“All of this is free... This return to ritual and tradition is grounded in community care, not profit."
Preparations for the guest's death start soon before their arrival. Underneath the soft-colored bedsheets are heated mattresses and the beds are adjustable, like those found in hospitals.
At 11:15 am, the pharmacist delivered the medication. The package contained pre-meds to stave off nausea and a compound created specifically to induce death.
In any other circumstance consuming such great quantities of this medication would be considered an overdose. In this case though it is exactly the correct dose, literally what the doctor ordered: a medicine to end acute suffering.
This guest went to hospital for a bad cold. While she was there, the doctors discovered she had stage 4 lung cancer. Around two weeks later she arrived at this house determined to die.
“The biggest ritual is making sure that things slow down.”
“I used to have a Corolla and I loved my little Corolla but you can’t fit a body in a Corolla.”
A neighborhood of gentle hills and winding streets lined with family homes. Wrapped in the morning fog these houses are glowing and faded. Each house is made for life and living except for one.
3 Parrots, 1 Shared Wall, 2 Ruptured Lives
for The New York Times
Three parrots came between two best friends at a Manhattan co-op, entangling the U.S. Department of Justice and leaving behind broken teeth, eviction notices, and a historic court settlement.
On assignment for The New York Times, see the full story.
Photo Editor: Brent Murray
Three parrots came between two best friends at a Manhattan co-op, entangling the U.S. Department of Justice and leaving behind broken teeth, eviction notices, and a historic court settlement.
At the deposition, one of the parties arrived carrying a jar of parrot feathers. When asked why, she explained that their presence was soothing.
Charlotte lives with her service dog, Sofia, in a Manhattan condo.
The condo next door, connected by an adjoining wall, was previously occupied by a tenant who kept three parrots.
"I started grinding my teeth in my sleep... my filling broke and they diagnosed that I was clenching." Charlotte now needs this mouthguard to sleep due to grinding caused by anxiety related to her neighbor’s birds.
For a time, Charlotte considered her neighbor to be a close friend. They would care for each other’s pets and celebrated birthdays together.
Close to Union Square and Gramercy Park, Charlotte’s condo is located in The Rutherford. The building contains 175 residential units and was constructed in 1961.
Charlotte’s bathroom cabinet holds medication prescribed for anxiety and other conditions. She believes her declining health is tied to the parrots and the financial and legal fallout that followed her noise complaints.
Ms. Kullen is trying to forget the parrots and hopes to sell the apartment, putting the experience behind her. In the meantime, relief comes through visits to her horse, Asantro, in New Jersey.
Luna Luna
for The Washington Post
Through the eyes of a 2-year-old, the New York exhibition of “Luna Luna” is pure magic.
On assignment for The Washington Post, see the full story.
Photo Editor: Lauren Bulbin
A scultpure by artist Kenny Scharf exhibited at Luna Luna’s New York show at The Shed, Manhattan, in February, 2025.
The touring exhibition features fairground rides and amusements adapted by artists including Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, and Salvador Dalí.
Guests are invited to play, dance and even embrace the creatures that emerge from the darkness at Luna Luna.
Misha Shammas, 3, in Salvador Dalí's Dalídom, a mirrored "geodesic surrealist funhouse."
A plush flower brandished by one of the performers attracts a kaleidoscope of butterflies.
A tall puppet looms over onlookers beside the painted swing ride by Kenny Scharf.
The rides and amusements at Luna Luna were thought to be lost, since 1987.
The mermaid character created by Arik Brauer’s fantastical carousel.
The fairground is set to a soundtrack by composers including André 3000, David Byrne, and Philip Glass.
Last seen in Hamburg, Germany, the rides and amusements were recently discovered in an array of shipping containers in Texas.
Portraits
for The Boston Globe, The LA Times, People Magazine and more
American novelist Walter Mosley for The New York Times.
American novelist Walter Mosley for The New York Times.
Fashion designer Alexander Wang for The Washington Post Style.
Fashion designer Alexander Wang for The Washington Post Style.
Kevin and Chad Franke for People Magazine.
Dominique, Denise and Tanya Brown, sisters of Nicole Brown Simpson, for The Los Angeles Times.
Comedian and actor Roy Wood Jr for The Los Angeles Times.
Comedian and actor Roy Wood Jr for The Los Angeles Times.
Artist Yannick Trapman-O'Brien at The City Reliquary.
Eddie Bernard for The Los Angeles Times.
Eddie Bernard for The Los Angeles Times.
Luis von Ahn, CEO of Duolingo, for The New York Times.
Luis von Ahn, CEO of Duolingo, for The New York Times.
David Rawlinson II, CEO of QVC, for The New York Times.
Artist Heide Fasnacht for The New York Times.
Bread’n’Rope for Cake Zine.
Chris Panayioutou for The New York Times.
Emily White, former executive at Spotify, for The Los Angeles Times.
End-of-life doula Holly Strelzik for The Boston Globe.
Email: hey@oliverfarshi.com
Call: +1.510.545.6383
IG: @oliverblank
Oliver Farshi is a British photographer based in Brooklyn. His work features people in moments of intense transition and revelation.
A winner of World Press Photo, American Photography, and CPOY, he has photographed cover stories for The New York Times Magazine, People Magazine, and The Washington Post Style. His work has been published in The LA Times, The Boston Globe, New York Magazine, The New Republic, and Forbes among others.
In New York, Oliver’s photography has been exhibited at the International Center of Photography, Baxter St, Photoville, and is currently appearing in over 60 exhibitions across the world as part of World Press Photo’s touring show. He is a graduate of the International Center of Photography’s Documentary Practice & Visual Journalism program.
In his photographic practice, Oliver moves in otherwise unseen spaces, documenting the deeply personal. This can be seen in A Place To Die, which follows his time at a house terminally-ill people visit to take a life-ending medication, and The One Who Got Away, a portrait series which connects each person through the loss of a loved one in their life.
Ultimately Oliver’s photographs reveal moments of vulnerability that feel familiar yet are rarely seen.
Call: +1.510.545.6383
IG: @oliverblank
Oliver Farshi is a British photographer based in Brooklyn. His work features people in moments of intense transition and revelation.
A winner of World Press Photo, American Photography, and CPOY, he has photographed cover stories for The New York Times Magazine, People Magazine, and The Washington Post Style. His work has been published in The LA Times, The Boston Globe, New York Magazine, The New Republic, and Forbes among others.
In New York, Oliver’s photography has been exhibited at the International Center of Photography, Baxter St, Photoville, and is currently appearing in over 60 exhibitions across the world as part of World Press Photo’s touring show. He is a graduate of the International Center of Photography’s Documentary Practice & Visual Journalism program.
In his photographic practice, Oliver moves in otherwise unseen spaces, documenting the deeply personal. This can be seen in A Place To Die, which follows his time at a house terminally-ill people visit to take a life-ending medication, and The One Who Got Away, a portrait series which connects each person through the loss of a loved one in their life.
Ultimately Oliver’s photographs reveal moments of vulnerability that feel familiar yet are rarely seen.
©2025 Oliver Farshi. All rights reserved.