Thomas (Ferguson): I feel the media coverage was really overblown. People descended here from all over the world like it was some new attraction, over not even a quarter-mile stretch of road. At one point during the unrest, there were actually more media [people] there than protesters. The community began to lose trust with the media, because people began to feel like they were being exploited and sensationalized — which they were — by a media-manufactured narrative to sway the opinions of the masses negatively of the black community.

The majority of them weren’t there to shed a light on injustice and inequality. They were there, rather, as hungry vultures on the hunt for the big story. Total disregard for people’s space and dignity. Most were unprofessional and in some ways escalated the situation. Protesters who were genuine about the cause knew the only reason the media were there was to take advantage of the situation. Depending on the news outlet, the accounts of what really happened on those nights were in stark contrast [with reality] once they hit the airwaves. The community picked up on that. These were U.S. citizens displaying their displeasure in a system that was corrupt and had been taken advantage of, well before the shooting of Michael Brown. But they were met with military vehicles, guns and law enforcement [officers] outfitted like Marines; protesters were made to look like unruly, uncontrollable thugs who have no respect for property.

I was often embarrassed to be out there as [part of the] media because of the approach and agenda of a lot of the coverage. For those of us who do this professionally and have been in a share of unrestful situations, we were really pissed off at those bloggers and ill-equipped photographers who had no clue or ethics of how to handle themselves situations like these.

Nunez (Baltimore): I didn’t understand the meaning of “media circus” until I got to the intersection of Penn and North, which normally is an open-air drug market. If you want it, they got it on Penn and North. So I was shocked to see so many white faces in this area. I mean, black people don’t even go to this area unless you are from there. I talked to a news team from Brazil — Brazil, of all places. They were shocked that I could speak Portuguese. I have yet to find that news clip. I probably was never used because I have all of my teeth and my narrative probably wasn’t interesting enough.

It was like the media was hungry for something. I may be overthinking, but it was something about the look in their eyes. The cameramen were rude, and [they didn’t seem] to care or notice where they were. People actually live in this neighborhood, and no one seemed to care. I guess one conflict zone looks like all the others. Maybe they were jaded to the poverty, but it makes you wonder, How can people accurately capture what is going on if they are desensitized to it?

I knew the media circus was official when I saw Anderson Cooper walk by. I thought, Anderson Cooper? The CNN guy? For one thing, he is always in the studio, and he only shows up when things hit the fan. Random, but Anderson Cooper actually does glow in real life. Like, he literally has [an] aura.

I also saw firsthand how the media will skip over an educated person who is making sense in order to speak to a seemingly uneducated person who is talking crazy. The media tailor their story to fit the narrative that they want to tell, not what is really happening. Which is why I am a little frustrated at the massaging of this particular project. I understand that this is how media works, unfortunately, but I digress ...

Editor’s note: The editors of this feature asked the photographers to submit images of people who are working on improving the community.

Thomas (Ferguson): Simply put, nothing. We occasionally have a photo op of a groundbreaking program that is supposed to help the community, but then it’s back to everyday life. They elected a Ferguson Commission to serve as a bridge between the community and officials, but it has not provided any change or action that anyone benefits from, and it’s now being considered a waste of time and resources. People are coming and going to their destinations just as they did the day before Michael Brown was shot. The people who protested have gone back to work and now resort to just tweeting about how mad they are and how “we gonna shut it down if we don’t get it.”

The struggle has fizzed out here. The major coordinators who were on the ground here with the protesters [have] flocked to the next site of police injustice and brutality (Texas, Ohio, Wisconsin, Maryland and South Carolina). It seems like everyone is more interested in the discussion rather than action that’s needed. No one is really ready to make the sacrifice it’s going to take to really get what they want, because at the end of the day, the bills can’t be late, and that’s what really matters, unfortunately.

Nunez (Baltimore): I do not see any change in the community. Things are back to normal. You can still buy dope on the bus stop, and the murder rates are still sky high. You still have blocks and blocks of row homes boarded up. I’m speaking of the numerous buildings boarded up before the riot. And the surrounding affluent neighborhoods are still oblivious to the fact that people are getting bloodied right down the street. If they looked at the Baltimore crime map, they probably would pack their belongings and leave.

Elections are coming up, and there is a mad dash in the city for the mayor’s office, and the current administration is cleaning house. The police commissioner was fired the other day, and I suspect that more cuts are to come. It’s like in the gangster movies when the Mafia becomes compromised and they start getting rid of everyone to save their own butts.

Thomas (Ferguson): As an African-American male, I understand why they were mad. I’ve never been subject to arrest, brutality or profiling, but as a black man, I don’t walk around with the mentality that it couldn’t happen to me. And that’s no way to live, [with a] fear of dying or being beaten because of law enforcement’s inability to gauge a situation with people of color properly. When you see police kill a groom and his groomsmen outside a bar the night before his wedding or a woman who’s arrested during a routine traffic stop on the way to a job interview but ends up dead in a jail or a pregnant black woman wrestled to the ground for not complying to an officer’s request of her name. And it all in the end is considered justified.

I do my best to tread lightly and avoid [the police] as much as possible. I don’t trust them, plain and simple. I regularly come in contact with people who, when they find out I’m a photojournalist who covered Ferguson, they want to provide their input on the situation but never were out there. You can tell the media swayed their perspective. You can’t really debate with them because they don’t have the facts straight and don’t feel the loss of a life is as important as the business of the area because, hey, “black people kill each other every day.”

Nunez (Baltimore): I always felt like I had one foot in and one foot out of this community. Friends that I grew up with are still in their respective communities, but I always wanted more. I have many friends that are no longer here due to gun violence. For some reason, I keep being drawn back to the city. When I am away for too long, I start to miss it. Maybe it’s the familiarity of it all. Maybe I feel like I am in debt to Baltimore for teaching me how to spot a con man or how to watch my back or teaching me to use my intuition to leave an area or situation before someone gets shot.

Baltimore is grungy, raw, dangerous and in denial, but there is no place like home. I have traveled all over, and still there is no place like Baltimore.

These interviews have been edited for clarity.