Although Powers studied photography in college, it wasn’t until he took his first job as a lab tech at the Naperville Sun that he really fell in love with it. From there Powers moved on to work for The Chicago Sun-Times Media, documenting life around the city for three-and-a-half years before becoming part of the headline-making layoff of the entire photo staff in May 2013. But that didn’t stop the photographer. He has since been freelancing and recently headed back to school to work on a Bachelor’s degree in Photojournalism and New Media at Western Kentucky University, after which he plans to restart his career.