Contributors: May 2018

Hour Detroit, May 2018
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Marissa Johnson

Marissa Johnson is an illustrator who lives and works in Detroit. She received her BFA in illustration from the College for Creative Studies in 2015. Her illustrations include hand-drawn elements and textures along with digital techniques. For this issue, she illustrated a map that shows some of the unique festivals that take place in Michigan (page 28). Johnson finds much of her inspiration in the outdoors. She enjoys going for hikes, bike rides, and loves to travel. When not working, you can find Johnson browsing antique shops, a local bookstore, or walking her dog, Scout.

Josh Scott

Freelance photographer Josh Scott is based in Detroit and has been contributing to Hour Media publications for nearly six years. He learned the craft through mentoring photographers both near and far, as well as through instinctual trial and error. “This was definitely one of those assignments that sparked my creative interest,” Scott says of photographing the cover for this issue. “We had a wonderful location at Detroit Barbers’ newest shop in Corktown where they’ve brought a century-old building from the brink of demise to monumental stature.”

Viswanath Swamy

Viswanath Swamy, better known as Veesh, is a 21-year-old, self-taught visual artist who graduates from Wayne State University this month. Swamy considers his photographic style to be “evocative yet enigmatic.” See his work in our men’s style package (page 52). Swamy is pursuing a medical education with an enthusiasm for health care entrepreneurship. He attributes a significant portion of his personal and professional growth to his parents, mentors, and being immersed in the culturally thriving city of Detroit.

Melissa Walsh

When Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller calls for reducing sewage run-off, she’s singing to Melissa Walsh’s heart. Like Miller, Walsh was raised on the shores of Lake St. Clair and learned to navigate its shallow depths and sail its shifty winds. So naturally, Walsh wanted to spend “An Hour With …” Miller to talk about a part of the ecosystem that pumps the lifeblood of water recreation and the “blue economy” in Southeast Michigan and Southwest Ontario (page 40). Walsh’s assignments as a freelance journalist have also thrown her into a crash course on sewer infrastructure.