PAM GOLDEN’S THESIS show was the result of a mishap: Three years ago, her truck broke down in the heart of Arizona mining and ranching country. She was struck by the faces and stories of those she met and began a series of portraits and landscapes. Golden (pictured left) had a full career as an obstetrician — she delivered more than 2,500 babies — before deciding to close her practice and devote herself to photography full time.

Photographer and ASU Regents’ Professor Mark Klett, with whom Golden studied in the School of Art, says Golden’s practice as a doctor taught her to treat all people with compassion and respect: “[Golden’s] photographs show us that despite our many differences in this fractured time, we share a common humanity and are deserving of each other’s understanding and empathy.”