Items

• 
  2022-05-08

  Depression and Nature

  The Covid-19 pandemic has been a low point in my life. The incredible isolation felt by so many has certainly not been lost on me. Indeed, I like so many had to place my life and plans on pause. From a lost Study Abroad trip to Ireland to putting off graduate school, covid-19 has fundamentally reshaped my life in a very negative way. Like so many people, I became deeply depressed and anxious about this new world when the old world had begun to look up for me, personally. One of the ways I learned to cope was nature. Living in Arkansas, or the "Natural State" I am surrounded by immense beauty. Fresh air, rolling hills, an abundance of green and vibrantly colored flowers allowed me to find and reflect on the natural world around me. In a way, nature has a way of providing consistency and stability in an every changing world. Spring is a time of tremendous rebirth, and I have included a picture of some flowers that have just bloomed. Indeed, this representation of rebirth demonstrates an optimism that the world will move beyond Covid-19 in a hopefully positive direction.
• 
  2020-03-15

  Roller Coaster Ride

  The pandemic hit when I was in Saint George, Utah, for school. Being away from family and friends was by far the most challenging thing we had to go through. With everything shutting down and classes moving online, we were all confined to our rooms. Keeping in touch with our families through facetime and video chat, I was grateful that I still had the chance to talk to them. To make up for the lost holidays because of the pandemic, my friends and family began to send care packages. And one of my favorite gifts that my dear friend sent was this little plaque that I was able to hang on my wall during the shutdown. It says, "Life is like a Roller Coaster. It has Ups and Downs. You could either Scream or Enjoy the ride." It became my favorite thing to read whenever I was going through a rough time during the shutdown. Life is unpredictable, and so is the pandemic. I learned that I would either whine and complain about the pandemic and the shutdown or learn to accept it as another challenge in life. As the plaques said, I chose to enjoy some of the good things the pandemic brought, like self-meditation, catching up on my favorite shows, bonding with roommates, learning to cook/bake, and learning how to do tiktoks.
• 2020-03-18

  Moving & Religion

  These pieces of media were made during the very start of the pandemic on March 18, 2020. They capture the moment when my family moved to a new house in Chandler, Arizona from Tucson, Arizona. This was the beginning of a completely new life in a different place. From that moment onwards, I had no more connection to the outside world and was locked inside this house for the rest of 2020 and half of 2021. I did not have any form of in-person social interaction and only stayed inside this house. This made 2020 and 2021 a miserable experience. The photo is of my mom, who is the one that initiated our move here from Tucson, AZ. She did not like Tucson and wanted to move here as quickly to a more urban area like Phoenix and Chandler as soon as possible, but I really wanted to stay in Tucson. Tucson was a place that I developed a deep connection with. Tucson was the place where I attended high school and made many friends. To have those connections ripped from me for the rest of 2020 and basically the rest of my life was a very difficult experience. The video depicts a ceremony that Hindu families perform every time a family moves to a new residence. The question of whether I should partake in religion is something that I personally struggle with a lot in my life and especially in 2020. My parents forced me to partake in religious festivals and celebrations that I did not enjoy. This is another thing that made 2020 a very miserable experience. Over time, I have turned into an agnostic and a very secular person (something that my parents would probably be very unhappy to know).
• 
  2020-04-13

  Art by Me

  At the start of the pandemic, the only thing kind of entertainment people relied on was the television or their phone. Like most other high school students who are addicted to their phone, I was one of them. I was always laying in my bed scrolling through TikTok or looking on Snapchat. I mean, that was the number one thing to do. We weren't allowed to be out of the houses, going to sports events because the sad reality was that all of them got canceled. A couple months after the pandemic began, I started to lose interest being on my phone, it was no longer a source of entertainment, more rather repetitive. I've always loved art, drawing, crafting, making things at home. I grew up with an artistic, crafty mother. I decided that I wanted to create panting to hang up in my room, that is how it all began. I wanted to add more decorations to my room, and I admired the fact that it was my own art. Every day, I would sketch, draw and paint a different piece. I honestly fell in love with it, and I realized it was kind of like an escape from reality. I wasn't ever focused on anything else when I was painting, even though I am a perfectionist. I started showing my family members and friends my artwork and shortly after, people were asking me to paint them a custom piece. Of course, I couldn't say no so, I got the opportunity to paint my, soon to be, little sisters name board for her baby room. My family absolutely loved it and so did I. I wanted to expand the type of art I was creating so I decided to decorate my high school cap for my graduation that had been postponed, due to the pandemic. I sketched the outline of a paw print and filled the inside with different types of orange flowers, since I was going to Oklahoma State University and studying in animal sciences, I thought it was fitting. Through the rest of the pandemic up until school started back up and I was off to college, I was creating art. I used to look back at the pandemic and remember all negative moments that had happened, like the second half of my senior year getting canceled and summer not feeling like summer. Now, I feel like I've matured enough mentally to realize that I got to explore more about myself and learn about what kind of things make me happy, something not a lot of people get to do or even realize they can do.
• 
  2021-03-26

  Hagerstown Mass Vaccination Site

  This photo shows a number of people at a mass vaccination event.
• 
  2021-10-21

  HIST30060 Melbourne Convention Centre Post-Vaccine Area

  This photo shows the waiting area that the public was directed to after receiving their vaccine doses. When I was being walked over, my doctor told me to wait fifteen minutes, and if I felt ill during that time period I should sit on the floor and raise my hand. The chairs were stuck to the ground about six feet apart. There was a much larger section of chairs behind me, but I did not want to photograph anyone without their consent, even though everyone had masks on. Once your fifteen minutes were up, there was a desk at the front of the room with staff to double check that you felt alright as well as validating parking if needed. HIST30060.
• 
  2021-08-15

  Time

  For me, the pandemic brought a new found attention to the passing of time. My hope for a post-pandemic life is one where we continue to find time for the things we most appreciate and enjoy - like a walk on the beach at low tide.
• 
  2021-08-08

  New Normal?

  I went to church this past Sunday for the first time since the quarantine of March 2020. I'm not sure what I was expecting but there were a lot more changes than I had imagined. Sanitizing stations, hand wipes, and masks for those who wished to wear them. People were still socializing, not everyone was wearing masks but it was nice to see that it was an option and available to those who wanted. Before the pandemic, there was always a table with refreshments where we would go and grab pastries before Sunday school. Now that table had someone there to grab pastries in an attempt to limit contact. There were so many viable changes outside but the one that stuck to me most was the one I caught inside. Communion is a very important aspect of the Christian faith, I remember growing up in a Hispanic church there was a ceremonial feel to communion. It was a special occasion, a time to reflect and remember the foundation of our faith. I kept that feeling with me growing up but this past Sunday I was taken back when I walked into church. I was handed what I thought was a trinket. I sat down and stared at this object for a second, this was how we were to take communion. Of course, it makes total sense not to pass a tray around with crackers and juice to a building full of people, especially because you can never know for sure who's been vaccinated and who hasn't. This was just an unexpected change that the pandemic brought on, I wonder if this will be part of the "new normal" everyone is always talking about.
• 
  2021-07-13

  Essential AF

  Most people think of essential workers as public servants, mainly hospital staff but this picture shows that there were some unexpected jobs that were at one point labeled essential. This photo got some unexpected comments on Instagram like this one - "In that dark time, you helped people stay positive thru a pandemic man! That was the most essential work then." And this other one "But ice cream was essential during the pandemic! It was basically my only reason to live for a lil while." A lot of people found this picture funny but surprisingly many were quick to point out that it was the simple things, like mascots and ice cream, that kept us all smiling.
• 
  2021-05-17

  EVERYTHING I'VE LEARNED ABOUT LOVE

  “Everything I learned about love” is a journal of the year 2020 by graphic designer Juddelis Villar where she compiles photographs, journal entries, and poetry she made during the year of the pandemic. Through her little archive of the year, she tells us the story of how finding love in the middle of chaos helped her survive one of the most challenging years in history.
• 
  2021-04-20

  Images and Audio from "Arizona's COVID-19 Pandemics" Exhibit

  During March and April 2021, I created an online exhibit from content within Arizona State University's "A Journal of the Plague Year" COVID-19 archive. Entitled "Arizona's COVID-19 Pandemics," the digital exhibit contained images previously submitted to the archive, along with several copyright-free images I found on pexels.com. I have attached all these images. Listed by their order of appearance within the exhibit, their sources are as follows: 1- "Face It" Campaign flyer: Coconino County Health & Human Services ( https://covid-19archive.org/s/archive/item/42998 ) 2- Red Rocks, Sedona: Courtesy of Gregory Whitcoe via Pexels.com 3- Online Learning: Courtesy of August de Richelieu via Pexels.com 4- Tséhootsooí Medical Center staff: Courtesy of FDIHB Marketing Department and Navajo Times newspaper ( https://covid-19archive.org/s/archive/item/41189 ) 5- Arizona's Mask Mandate Map: created by Sarandon Raboin ( https://covid-19archive.org/s/archive/item/26267 ) 6- Arizona COVID-19 Infection Zip Code Map: Courtesy of Arizona Department of Health Services ( https://covid-19archive.org/s/archive/item/42035 ) 7- Woman Shopping: Courtesy of Anna Shvets via Pexels.com 8- Woman on Rural Arizona Road: Courtesy of Taryn Elliot via Pexels.com 9- Masked Woman in Crowd: Courtesy of Redrecords via Pexels.com 10- The Wave: Courtesy of Flickr via Pexels.com (this image is found only in the PDF submission of the exhibit, not in the public-facing exhibit itself due to document formatting technicalities - the PDF version can be found at https://covid-19archive.org/s/archive/item/42998 )
• 
  2021-04-17

  Represent like Elvin Fourfeathers!

  This photo was posted on the Social Distance Powwow Facebook page. Fourfeathers’s face seems to hold a thought captive. Was he going to say something to the photographer? What is he thinking? Would I even understand as a non-Indigenous person? What do the different pieces of regalia represent? Did the photographer take this pre-pandemic but posted now lamenting the loss of tribal gatherings? So many questions to such a beautiful photograph. You keep on representing Elvin. Teach us all.
• 
  2020-04-27

  Pandemic Street Art: Cross-country Corona Chalk Project

  A group of chalk artists connected remotely to create a piece of chalk art to honor frontline workers. The artists were Naomi Haverland from Seattle, Washington, Jolene Russell from Sacramento, California, Anat Ronen from Houston, Texas, Jessi Queen from Atlanta, Georgia, Shelly and Dave Brenner from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Dave photographed his wife Shelly, who is also a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, for a collaborative chalk art piece with each artist making their part in their hometown.
• 
  2021-02-02

  Coronaland

  With Carnival parades cancelled, somebody had the bright idea to start the Krewe of House Floats to (a) make up for it and (b) to offer work to unemployed float artisans. The results have gone beyond everyone's wildest imagination with 5,000+ people signing up in New Orleans, surrounding parishes, and around the world. This installation on St. Charles Avenue honored “Saint Dolly” and her $1million donation for the COVID vaccine. Of all the House Floats, it was my favorite!
• 
  2021-01-25

  A Year of COVID-19 in Canada

  This is a collection of photographs for the anniversary of the first COVID-19 case in Canada. The photographs depict the changes the country underwent in the last 12 months.
• 
  2020-04-20

  During the War... or A Gift of Time

  When the going gets tough, the tough get going... I think I understand the meaning of hunkering down and getting to work now. I have always loved creating and now more than ever am embracing its healing powers. During these last six weeks I feel like we have been dodging bullets. We have become hunter gatherers looking for supplies to combat the germs. We are obsessed with stocking our little fort with enough of everything (art supplies), to survive the war. Through it all, my husband and I have also been obsessed with creating. Me in my home studio, learning how to collage, make books, creating paintings, greeting cards and finding new techniques to immerse (distract) my self. My husband in his shop behind our house making cigar box guitars! I read a quote from J.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring, that sums up, like most things, will be our attitudes that will help us accept this interruption of life..... ”I wish it had not happened in my time”. said Frodo. ”So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what we will do with the time that is given to us.” Since the start of the pandemic I have created over 65 paintings. I need to create in order to find sanity and feel productive and not scared and anxious. The photograph is a painting I created using Rohrshadk blots as inspiration.
• 
  2021-02-04

  My daily view

  This is a photo from my bedroom, and has been what I wake up to every day, and have been waking up to for the last 22 years of my life. I haven’t left my house in weeks aside from running to get groceries or a coffee. I haven’t gone out for a hike, a walk, almost nothing for these months. I’m mainly sharing this photograph to illustrate just how monotonous my life has become, and while this sounds depressing, because it is, I feel like I’m doing my part by not going out – it’s probably the only thing that’s making this bearable. All I do every day, is wake up and begin working on classwork and my internship, and then finish off with some games online with my friends, but I’ve even stopped doing that recently. I don’t really have a drive to do much anymore aside from school work. I feel even worse with the fact that I can’t find any work which would fit with my class work. So largely, I just feel incredibly useless, I take so long to get my school work done, and have little time to just do what I’d like – and on top of that I don’t even know what I’d like to do. Needless to say, this pandemic has really, really put a funk on me; class work is the only thing keeping me going at the moment, or I’d just be a potato in bed.
• 
  2020-12-12

  Shopping centers have reopened and life is returning to normal

  Shopping centers have re-opened in China and it’s full of people in the weekend. It is good to see that life is getting back to normal expect we still need to wear masks.
• 
  2020-09-06

  The Faces of ICU Nurses Under Pressure

  An ICU nurse started photographing her coworkers during her breaks. Her photographs show the pressure and stress that health care professionals are under during this pandemic.
• 
  2020-09-17

  Life in the Time of Coronavirus

  From March through August, I walked through the environs of downtown Tucson to make images capturing the effect of the pandemic.
• 
  2020-09-16

  After George Floyd

  From March through August, I walked through the environs of downtown Tucson to make images capturing the effect of the pandemic. After the murder of George Floyd, I also documented the aftermath of the resultant demonstrations during the end of May and June.
• 
  2020-09-01

  Greetings From...San Francisco

  A wonderful group of students from my first year of teaching (2011-12) has stayed in touch since they graduated in 2015. They have an annual tradition of coming back to the Bay Area at least once per year and spending the day in San Francisco. They take a photograph in front of the Golden Gate Bridge - even if it is completely covered in fog - to mark their time together. The COVID-19 pandemic made their tradition impossible this year. They still decided to mark the year by creating this "Greeting from...San Francisco" postcard style photoshopped image. It is such a sign of the times! I am grateful that the group is finding a way to stay connected during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• 
  2020-08-05

  Driving Around COVID: A photo series

  During quarantine, it's easy to feel bored and lonely. I took many drives during this time to help ease the pain. I submitted these particular photos because they connect to my experience in quarantine.
• 
  2020-04-22

  Bringing Photography Back to My Life

  The image is of a white flowering tree in a family member's garden, that has a ray of light in the corner of the photo. This was taken during a social distancing visit with family, and in way made me realize that I would like to bring photography back into the forefront of my professional career and don't want to be stuck in an office all day.
• 
  2020-04-10

  A Puppy's Lament

  This is a photo of a puppy who looks completely done with everything. This photograph in a way tell the story of how during the pandemic there would be point of time where the only form of social interaction I have would be talking to my dog. Yet that was a reality a lot of people would face, where the people they would see on a daily basis they couldn't anymore so they had to talk to someone and that was there pets.
• 
  2020-04-24

  Streets and Avenues / New York City (XVIII)

  After college, and a year of vagabonding through Central and South America, I moved to the city forty-two years ago. I was drawn to New York, like many, by the energy and complexity of the city itself, and more specifically, the rich and endless theater found on its streets. While the array of cultural offerings has been a source of nourishment and pleasure, it is the streetlife that keeps me as excited as my first weeks here. What I love about New York is not what I know about the city, but how much I don't know. You cannot exhaust it as a subject, and from the start, I have made the city my primary interest and subject as a photographer. I always go out with a camera and am often mistaken as a tourist because of it. I take that as a compliment, given few can match the exalted state of excitement and awareness that a tourist experiences on a visit. When the Coronavirus hit and the staggered shutdown of the city went from a talked about possibility to a reality, I found myself inside my apartment looking out at the street below. At first, I made short trips to get necessities, then later added walks through Central Park, and now through the streets of Manhattan. If you think of a photograph as a piece of theater, with a stage set, lighting, cast, and choreography, the new version of the streetlife of New York is an eerie and fascinating show. The set and lighting is much the same, but the cast and choreography have wildly changed. Wandering through Midtown is like walking through an amusement park in the off-season. You experience the present colored by what you know it to be in season.
• 
  2020-04-07

  Six-foot markers on the sidewalk outside our local elementary school.

  This elementary school is also used by the community for other purposes. Clearly it is still in use, even with schools closed. Taken during a walk around the neighborhood on day 19 of our lockdown.
• 
  2020-03-19

  Decon

  Taken on the day of an antimicrobial ULV fogging at a school in Brick, NJ.
• 
  2020-03-17

  The Quarantine in France La Quarantine en France

  Two men looking at a photographer/camera near La Tour Eiffel.
• 
  2020-03-22

  Talking to a friend

  Photograph taken as I talked to my friend through her window. I was on a walk and saw the open window as I passed her apartment. I called up to her and we spoke for a little while. She has been self quarantining because a family member (who she saw last week) has Coronavirus. So far, she has not shown any symptoms.
• 
  COVID19 Pandemic aka Coronavirus

  Grandaughter shows grandfather her engagement ring through a window.

  Cara Boyd showed up at her grandfathers nursing home in Lake Waccamaw, North Carolina to show him her engagement ring. However, they could not meet without a pane of glass between them. She did not want to wait for the crisis to be over before showing him.
• 
  2020-03-14

  Playing Croquet

  Spring break in the midst of a pandemic.