COVINGTON, Ky. — Every year, there are more of them.
More moms and dads, sons and daughters, and best friends lost to a drug overdose.
More people who loved them left behind, holding the black balloon that has come to represent their loss.
Photographer Gabi Deaton learns their stories and takes the photos that break her heart.
Throughout the fall, Deaton, who has been in recovery for more than 12 years, meets with families and friends for free photography sessions.
She never reaches out to them to participate. They find her.
The backdrop may be a colorful mural, a park, a cemetery or the place where the person passed away.
The participants hold their loved one's photo, or an urn with their ashes, and a single black balloon.
On Saturday, Deaton invited the public to view her annual exhibit of The Black Balloon Project at the Life Learning Center in Covington to raise overdose awareness.
"Nobody wants to be in these pictures," said Deaton. "Half of these people probably wish they didn’t know me because they only know me based off the project, so it’s overwhelming, it’s powerful. I’m proud of myself, but ... it just goes to show how much change we need."
Deaton doesn’t let anyone leave the event without offering Narcan, the overdose-reversing drug that saved her own life.
Raffle and T-shirt sales from Saturday's event raised funds for The Brent Howell Foundation, which helps people get into sober living.
Deaton has taken more than 100 photographs so far, in memory of Kentuckians and Ohioans, most who have died in the last 10 years.
"Not everybody on this wall suffered from substance use," said Deaton. "Sometimes, it was just a mistake that happened."
Among those lost last year, was 23-year-old Morgan Lewis of Bullitt County.
She was full of love and young at heart, said her mother, Laura Thurman, who participated in the photo project.
"She was experimenting with cocaine," Thurman said. "She went to a house one night to play Uno, watch movies, just hang out with some friends and they decided to do cocaine and it was laced with fentanyl."
The family has since created Morgan's Mission, a nonprofit aimed at education and awareness.
"For (Deaton) to give back and to honor our children like this, it’s just amazing," said Thurman. "That’s all parents want to do when something happens to their child. They just don’t want people to forget their child, and I think that’s what we’re scared of, that people will forget."
Deaton doesn’t want those lost to be defined by one deadly decision or a struggle with addiction, but to be seen for who they were.
"If I don’t tell their stories, what if nobody else does? For the families and the friends, I think it’s so easy to drown in grief and not be able to articulate how to advocate for them ... I want to be able to help them find that voice."