Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) came for Lovaine Cohen with speed and force.

Cohen was in her 20s when she gave birth to her first child, a daughter. After she became a mother, Cohen’s lower back began to hurt. Soon, she couldn’t walk without a limp. Eventually, Cohen needed a cane to get around.

Then at age 31, after her pain had climbed to her upper back, Cohen learned she had AS, a type of arthritis in the spine. She had tested positive for the human leukocyte antigen B27 (HLA-B27), a gene found in almost everyone with AS.

The news came as a relief “because I finally had a name for what was going on with my body,” says Cohen, 52, a health and wellness coach in Toronto.

By her late 30s, Cohen’s pain had turned unbearable and she needed heavy medication. Unable to get around easily, she quit her job as a financial service associate. Her rheumatologist sent her to an arthritis hospital for x-rays. They revealed that Cohen’s right hip had very little cushioning cartilage and that her left hip had none left.

Surgery Is Life-Changing

When she woke up from the operation, something was different. The pain was gone.

“It was life changing because for 4 or 5 years the pain was grating,” she says. “I was depressed. I didn’t have good thoughts about my future because of the pain. But the surgery turned everything around.”

Rehabilitation was grueling. Cohen had to relearn how to walk and to build up her muscles strength. For 7 months, she needed physical therapy three times a week. Cohen also required a special pillow to support her posture and to help her heal.

All the while, AS continued on its path of damage. Almost a year later, Cohen needed her right hip replaced too.

New Hips and a New Career

It took time for Cohen to accept that she was a woman in her 40s with two artificial hips.

“I still had a victim mindset,” she says.

She questioned why AS had to happen to her. But as Cohen read more about managing pain and how to co-exist with her disease, her perspective started to shift. She began to focus more on her own role with AS and on the things she could control.

Cohen also adopted a holistic, or whole-body, view of her health. She realized that any aspect of her life could send ripples through everything else. She was no longer excited by her work. In January 2019, she quit her job in the financial services industry and started preparing for a new career as a health and wellness coach. Cohen credits AS for steering her into a new path.

Today, Cohen helps people with autoimmune diseases manage their pain and inflammation. She believes that positive thinking can change how she perceives and responds to pain.

Cohen urges anyone newly diagnosed with AS to educate themselves as much as possible. For example, read about how diet can affect the disease. Cohen knows she feels better when she limits sugar, fruit, carbohydrates, and meat. She gets her blood checked every 3 to 4 months and takes a TNF-inhibitor. She also walks and does low-impact aerobics and strength training every day.

“You have to start thinking about changing your attitude about your pain,” Cohen says. “The biggest battle in fighting chronic pain is developing your mind to the point where you can cope with the pain and stress.”

“I’m in the driver’s seat and pain is in the backseat.”

While many artists shaped the art of the 2Oth century, only a handful of architects shaped the look of that period. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe is one such architect. He falls into the category of design pioneers whose work has greatly influenced architecture and will continue lo do so for generations to come. All of his designs represent a break with the past, or that which is shaped by tradition, and a leap into the future. In this way, his work is set apart from that of all other architects. Consequently, his work has brought many of his successors together through the impact van der Rohe has had upon them.

Van der Rohe's most popular buildings include the German Pavilion at the International Exposition in Barcelona, the Seagram building in New York City, and the Farnsworth house outside of Chicago. Whether nestled in the countryside or soaring high above a metropolis, light plays heavily in his designs.

He used a lot of glass to allow an optimum amount of natural light into his structures. The transparency of the glass allows the people occupying his buildings visual access to the outside world. His work made possible a natural communion between people and nature, architecture and light.

Van der Rohe's most popular buildings include the German Pavilion at the International Exposition in Barcelona, the Seagram building in New York City,and the Farnsworth House outside of Chicago. Whether nestled in the countryside or soaring high above a metropolis, light plays heavily in his designs. He used a lot of glass to allow an optimum amount of natural light into his structures. The transparency of the glass allows the people occupying his buildings visual access to the outside world. His work made possible a natural communion between people and nature, architecture and light.

A timeless quality characterizes van der Rohe's designs; the straight lines and minimalist lack of detail make his work radically futuristic. But, all of his structures are fueled by their connection to the natural environment, which predates humans and so as a result, his work represents a great span of time.

Van der Rohe was born Ludwig Mies in Aachen, Germany, on March 27, 1886. His father was a master stonemason who taught his son the trade. At the age of 19, he left home to try his luck in Berlin, where he found work with the Art Nouveau architect and furniture designer Bruno Paul. His skill quickly evolved, and in a year’s time, he was commissioned to design a house for the philosopher Alois Riehl. Still very eager lo learn, van der Rohe apprenticed under architect Peter Behrens and studied the architecture of Karl Friedrich Schinkel and Frank Lloyd Wright. In 1912, he opened his own office in Berlin and married a year later.

Van der Rohe's work did not begin and end with architecture. He also created designs for furniture. His simple yet luxurious Barcelona chair stands (or sits) as a model of chair design even today. For a significant price, you can purchase this black leather and chrome chair.

In 1937, van der Rohe moved to Chicago, where he made his home and become a U.S. citizen. For twenty years, he worked as the head of the Architecture Department at the Armour Institute of Technology, later renamed the Illinois Institute of Technology.

One of van der Rohe's most famous designs is the Farnsworth House. Captivated by the idea of flexible space within a physical structure, he designed this building with one room completely encased in glass, dividable by movable partitions. Situated in a remote countryside, the Farnsworth House allows the inhabitants to connect to the outside world through his use of glass. Since then, there have been few homes built which have so challenged the traditional notion of "communing" with nature.

Von der Rohe died in Chicago in 1962, putting to rest one of the most innovative minds in architecture for the entire century.

-Lauren Ragland for The New York Institute of Art and Design (NYIAD.com)

New York-based designer Christopher Burns creates interiors infused with an effortless elegance and introspective beauty. From an ultra modern loft to a classical study, a beachside estate to a repurposed chicken coop, he achieves thoughtful, versatile and harmonious spaces that reflect those who live there.

Each project Christopher Burns Interiors undertakes starts with a simple conversation. Likes? Dislikes? Need-to-haves? Ultimate expectations? An ardent listener, Christopher seeks to understand the lifestyle, needs and aspirations of his clients in order to create interiors that move beyond their expectations. The results invite and embrace.

From art, architecture and music to the psychological influence of color, the craftsmanship of an antique armoire or the intricacy of a handmade French tapestry, Christopher finds inspiration in bold and quiet places, far and near.

At a very young age, Christopher began honing his aesthetic. The son of an antique restoration upholster, he grew up in a world rich in the finest materials and fabrics. He learned the value of time-honored craftsmanship and tailoring. At the age of 18, Christopher moved to NYC to study fashion design at FIT and Parsons School of Design, and at 23, he was design director for a high-end womenswear company.

While fashion helped him develop a keen understanding of color, fabric, proportion and scale, he sought the personal connection garnered from working directly with the customer. The transition into interior design came easily and the collaboration between designer and client was a natural one for him.

In 2003, Christopher opened his boutique firm. Today, Christopher Burns Interiors continues to bring a rotating palette of fresh spaces that fit the modern lifestyle while firmly rooted in timeless, classic design.

A sense of imagination unleashed—pure creativity—defines Daniele Vertelli’s work. An internal drive to express himself, no matter the means, drives the man. As he states, the most important thing to him is an ability to be creative. Daniele reflects, “[Whether it be] a pen, a piece of clay, a camera, all are instruments that enable me to express myself.”

His level of self-expression has been present and active since his mother gave him a camera at the age of nine. From that moment forward, his dream was to be a professional photographer. Though he has achieved his dream, Daniele continues to challenge himself, enabling his work to improve and evolve. While he acknowledges that the field of wedding photography has gotten much more competitive, his work demonstrates a passion and perspective that is his alone.

It makes perfect sense that Daniele would thrive in the field of artistic photography. A two-time AG|WPJA Photographer of the Year, Daniele uses the same tools as many, though the results differ drastically. He describes post-production work as “a signature and a sort of distinctive trademark of the job.” It enables him to reach new heights of expression, while also pinpointing his very specific point of view.

A groom thrown into the air by his groomsmen, with the focus skyward, Danielle’s unique camera angle brings us somewhere we would never get to go. In this award-winning photograph, we are placed smack dab in the middle of this joyous moment, with the groom’s smiling face framed by the groomsmen’s outstretched arms. In so doing, we experience the excitement therein.

Similarly, another of his award-winning photographs brings into focus a perspective we are not naturally privy to. Precariously balancing two drinks and a baby boy, the subject of this photo is cut off at the neck, drawing our attention to that of the child and the drinks. The balance of the two pulls again at the emotion of the moment—it’s front and center.

Asked how Daniele defines his purpose, he simply states, “To immortalize feelings and emotions.” Admiring his portfolio, one gets a sense of the marriage he creates amongst his creative use of perspective, expert post-production techniques and an unrivaled sense of emotional outpouring.

Though his love of wedding photography was not at first sight, it quickly became his ‘main squeeze.’ “I love the different emotions that are ‘breathed’ during a wedding. They are tangible. And with my camera, my goal is to make them eternal,” Daniele reflects. In addition to a long-lasting quality, his work has a universal appeal. In his subjects, he captures those emotions with which we can all identify—ecstatic, sentimental, joyous—with a sudden burst that the viewer cannot deny.

– Lauren Ragland / For the Wedding Photojournalist Association