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2020-06-19

What Do You Do When the World Is Ending?

If you were around on May 30, 2020, you would know that it really did feel like the world was ending. Cities across the country were ablaze with rebellious fire, police and military covered the streets, bridges were lifted. All this during a global pandemic. To be there to be a part of it all, it felt like the world was ending. So, what do you do when the world is ending? There are many answers to this question and while I chose to answer it in multiple ways, one of the primary answers was this: documentation. I documented what felt like the end of the world. Through words, videos, photographs, tweets. Any way I could. But through documenting the end of the world, I encountered some of the most beautiful moments. Moments of peace, of beauty, of love, of collective and mutual care. One of those moments is pictured here.

2021-10-05

Life During a Pandemic

This is a brief look into life during the pandemic and how society has changed as well as what I have learned about the world and myself throughout the last two years. This is important to me because history is a great way to learn more about where we are today, if I am able to contribute to giving an insight to future generations about how our lives were affected by the global pandemic, I would be happy to do so.

2020-04-09

'It has become our sanctuary': The calming power of nature in a pandemic

Many have turned to nature to combat the stresses and concerns of the pandemic. This collection of photographs from around the world illustrates the beauty of nature, the changes to the environment during the pandemic, and the human appreciation of the natural world.

2020-12-21

A look at powerful social justice moments this year

Many photographs in this article show a beautiful moment within the context of the Black Lives Matter Movement. Some photographs show other events marked by the year 2020 such as the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the anniversary of women having the right to vote. If anything, 2020 was the most volatile year most of us have ever witnessed in our lives.

2002-12-15

Shellsea

Chelsea Campbell explains in a textual conversation that small business struggle with both competitors such as small and big business. Small businesses have been emerging since COVID-19 has begun as a solution for those who have been laid off from their jobs. Chelsea helps to explore the idea that although this is amazing for the small business community it makes it harder for other competitors. Additionally, larger business are able to work around issues that smaller business face such as large shipping cost and difficulty receiving products as they the money and ability to resolve more issues then someone who is attempting to compete with those same standards. Chelsea explain although there is always more room for creativity and entrepreneurship she has had to adjust tactics to become more competitive with other brands even if this is a direct sacrifice for her business.

2020-11-17

Beauty of Boston

Arriving as a freshman at Northeastern University, I found myself allured to the urban beauty of Boston. In these times it can be observed that the inhabitants of Boston are fewer, mostly at home, wear masks, and have totally changed their way of life. However, despite the pandemic, Boston's urban scape and landscape remain unhindered in its growth, development, and display. The backdrop beauty of the city is appreciated in these difficult times and keep its inhabitants - including myself - resilient and to press on.

2020-09-18

Makeup tutorials

I have noticed that the youtube have increased number of videos regarding how to keep makeup budge proof under your masks. I feel like this helps people to still feel beautiful despite having a mask on as well as follow the CDC guidlines.

2020-06

Finding Beauty in a COVID World: Running Alongside the Locked Up Botanical Garden

The New York Botanical Garden happens to be near where I reside in the Bronx. Every summer and spring my friends and I plan a few trips to this lovely place to experience all of the natural beauty of the garden. However, this year however, the “Botans,” as we like to call it, was closed for the entirety of the spring and a large chunk of summer due to the pandemic. I believe they are just now, in early August, starting to open with limited capacity. I decided to capture this photo on my run to illustrate how the garden’s beauty is able to penetrate the surrounding community even from outside the gates. You can see the lavender peeking up over the gate and we were able to take a look inside through the openings of the fence to appreciate the park’s beauty. My mask reads “New York Strong.”

2020-07

Finding Beauty in a COVID World

In this series my goal was to share how I found beauty this summer, despite everything happening right now in the United States. This collection of photos serves as a reminder for me that although things are not normal and probably won't be for a long time, there is such immense beauty that exists in this world. If it weren't for COVID and losing my job I would not have experienced many of these moments that I captured in these pictures. Perhaps the silver lining of COVID is that for a lot of us, it has forced us to literally sit back and reflect and these photos illustrate the "COVID-friendly" activities I chose to do this summer with all my free time. Some of these photos are some scenic landscapes in NYC, where I live. The rest of these images are from various scenic places throughout the country, mostly in the West, where I began my road trip back to New York City a few weeks ago.

2020-08-11

Relax. Think COVID-free thoughts.

San Francisco Bay Area artists, Mark Harris, created a stunning mural on the boarded up windows of local business, Rose Gold Piercing and Tattoo. Rose Gold shut its doors at the start of California's COVID-19 shelter-in-place orders and has yet to reopen. Harris's message to "Relax, think COVID-free thoughts" is a reminder of how much our world has changed and is being dictated by the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the pandemic continues to wreck havoc on the San Francisco Bay Area, Harris's art brings hope and beauty to local residents. Harris's mural is a part of the larger San Francisco Bay Area art initiative, Paint the Void. Over 100 murals have been created in public spaces throughout the San Francisco Bay Area as a result of Paint the Void.

2020-04-17

Coronavirus Kindness: Bay Area Artists Create Murals on Boarded Storefronts to Uplift Local Communities

Businesses across the San Francisco Bay Area have closed, some temporary and some permanently, as a result of California's COVID-19 shelter-in-place orders. Those that hope to re-open have boarded up their windows to try to protect their stores and inventory. As a result of the crushing economic blow of the COVID-19 pandemic, the vibrancy of San Francisco streets has vanished. In response, local arts are turning boarded storefronts into beautiful murals with messages of hope. Local artists are "bringing life and beauty to our streets, sending messages of love to people in their community." Two local art agencies, Building 180 and Art for Civil Discourse, have teamed up and created Paint the Void. Paint the Void pairs local artists with boarded up businesses in an attempt to beautify the city and "to bring hope into the community and inspire people." Artists hope to eventually auction their murals and donate the funds raised to those in need.

2020-08-16

Paint the Void

Artists around the world have faced insurmountable challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. San Francisco Bay Area artists are turning public spaces into canvases to inspire hope. In the turbulence of the COVID-19 pandemic, Paint the Void emerged. This organization's mission is "to match local artists with boarded up businesses to create murals as a response to the void left behind in the wake of COVID-19." The group is raising money to grant artists stipends "for their hard work as guardians of hope and beauty in these unprecedented times." To date, the organization has helped 91 local artists create 100 murals across 84 storefront in the San Francisco Bay Area.

2020-04-30

Notes from Coronaland--Poems Written Every Day in April 2020

My English professor, Jo Kaplan, pen name for Joanna Parypinski, wrote a lovely collection of poetry while in quarantine in April 2020. The poems are beautiful in their simplicity and accessibility. The language is sometimes surprising, but always profound and universal. I think they have captured the feelings of all of us during this difficult time.

2020-05-04

Cut my hair by myself

Because the closure of hair style barbershop, I have to cut my hair by myself.

2020-05-24

May Flowers

The flowers were photographed as they were hopeful of bringing light into a quarantined home. The vivid colors breathe spring into the home. April Shower's bring May Flowers

2020-05-11

Tulips in Spring 2020

Spring, Leawood Kansas, mother's day. While taking walks we get to enjoy the beauty of Spring in Kansas. On mother's day i wanted to paint the beauty of tulips, and somehow the coronavirus become part of the beauty of nature... present, silent, intrusive.... and still part of our lives... in spite of our efforts to avoid it. The Spring is blooming in 2020, beautifully, while covid-19 is all around us.

Photo of a street lined with cherry blossom trees. Small groups are seen walking down the road. In the foreground is a man and woman walking side by side wearing masks.

2020-04

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