Deaf bakery owner inviting pastry portrait

Ruth Carter, Deaf bakery owner with a cochlear implant, 52, Asheville, North Carolina, flour-dusted linen apron and salt-and-pepper curls; she lifts a cooling rack of pastries as if inviting a taste, implant visible behind the ear; warm, even light that flatters skin and adds a gentle sheen to the baked goods; background: tidy shelves and display case softly blurred — Crop: three-quarter