BALLAD OF OUR CHANGING WORLD
Federica Armstrong | Tiffany Bolk | Della Calfee | Melissa Caudel | Denise Cicuto
Federica Armstrong
Disquiet Night
‘Disquiet Night’ explores the current pandemic through the nocturnal suburban landscape around Santa Clara County, the first US County to confirm a death by COVID 19.
At night, the often bucolic environment takes on a more dystopian sensibility in the midst of a pandemic. Suburbia is often synonymous with a segregated, sheltered life. Yet, the abandoned streets and the forbiddance of social interaction reflect feelings of confinement, disorientation, desolation and loneliness in the face of an unprecedented calamity.
Website
Instagram
Works in Show
Federica Armstrong - Disquiet Night #1
Federica Armstrong - Disquiet Night #5
‘Disquiet Night’ explores the current pandemic through the nocturnal suburban landscape around Santa Clara County, the first US County to confirm a death by COVID 19.
At night, the often bucolic environment takes on a more dystopian sensibility in the midst of a pandemic. Suburbia is often synonymous with a segregated, sheltered life. Yet, the abandoned streets and the forbiddance of social interaction reflect feelings of confinement, disorientation, desolation and loneliness in the face of an unprecedented calamity.
Website
Works in Show
Federica Armstrong - Disquiet Night #1
Federica Armstrong - Disquiet Night #5
Tiffany Bolk
I wanted to challenge myself to only create images of what I could see from the windows of my house. I wanted to show the loneliness and emptiness of my surroundings. However there are signs of life lingering in the light of the outside homes. I was also interested in the idea of creating "new landscapes" by including parts of the inside of my house along with the outside view. Essentially, bringing the outside in and the inside out to become one flat image. Ironically I work at a wine shop and was considered an "essential worker", so I was actually not self isolating as I was going into work most days. However, I still felt a longing and a curiosity to know what was happening with the people that surround me and how they were fairing.
Website
Instagram
Works in Show
Tiffany Bolk – Inside Out 1
Tiffany Bolk – Inside Out 2
Tiffany Bolk – Inside Out 3
Tiffany Bolk – Inside Out 4
Tiffany Bolk – Inside Out 5
Website
Works in Show
Tiffany Bolk – Inside Out 1
Tiffany Bolk – Inside Out 2
Tiffany Bolk – Inside Out 3
Tiffany Bolk – Inside Out 4
Tiffany Bolk – Inside Out 5
Della Calfee
I usually portray healing imagery but once in a while the darkness overwhelms. I live alone, feeling increasingly isolated. Then I got COVID. Alone I fought. I was told I was not ill enough to go to the hospital. I was denied a test because I did not have the recent experience of either traveling or being in contact with someone who had a confirmed tested case. No one could or would come near me. So many symptoms rose up and subsided. I found I did not die. But I continue to experience symptoms like so many others. Money is draining away. The future is frightening.
I wake with the sunrise every morning and gaze out across my city under lockdown, things going from bad to worse, so much suffering. It's like a war we're unable to fight; funds cut off, immobilized, separated. Sunrise after sunrise, week after month after... year?
Website
Works in Show
Della Calfee – Trauma
Della Calfee - Sunrise Over Isolation
Della Calfee – Sunrise Over Catastrophe
Della Calfee – Sunrise Over Devastation
I wake with the sunrise every morning and gaze out across my city under lockdown, things going from bad to worse, so much suffering. It's like a war we're unable to fight; funds cut off, immobilized, separated. Sunrise after sunrise, week after month after... year?
Website
Works in Show
Della Calfee – Trauma
Della Calfee - Sunrise Over Isolation
Della Calfee – Sunrise Over Catastrophe
Della Calfee – Sunrise Over Devastation
Melissa Caudle
Pandemic Connections
The connections are so sparse during this time of Shelter in Place.
A few people, seen behind masks, from a distance. No hugs, no handshakes, staying apart.
Walks in the neighborhood, seeing the gifts that have been left for our discovery.
We find the connections.
The neighbors, six feet apart.
An impromptu zoo.
Coffee and masks (or not).
Dinner for a new family in the parsonage.
An angel, flag and flower to celebrate hope and courage.
Works in Show
Melissa Caudle – Social Distance
The connections are so sparse during this time of Shelter in Place.
A few people, seen behind masks, from a distance. No hugs, no handshakes, staying apart.
Walks in the neighborhood, seeing the gifts that have been left for our discovery.
We find the connections.
The neighbors, six feet apart.
An impromptu zoo.
Coffee and masks (or not).
Dinner for a new family in the parsonage.
An angel, flag and flower to celebrate hope and courage.
Works in Show
Melissa Caudle – Social Distance
Denise Cicuto
"For this show, I photographed some things I'd never really noticed before the pandemic, such as masks and how they have become a daily part of our lives. I also photographed cracks, both physical cracks and tears in objects, and emotional cracks that maybe you can't always see as easily.
At the beginning of the pandemic, when food and other staples were scarce, I realized I could still appreciate objects that broke. I saw beauty in the cracks so I photographed them. I was a bit sad that some of my favorite things broke but I will always remember when they did. A book I read came with a tear in one of the pages that popped up like an origami bird. That too will be as memorable as the book for me.
Finding out that a friend died of COVID-19 was the latter. The self-portrait was taken just hours after I found out he had passed away.
There has been a kind of shattering of the life we knew before the pandemic and there will be new things that emerge. This is what I tried to capture when I picked up my camera during shelter-in-place."
Website
Works in Show
Denise Cicuto – Shattered
Denise Cicuto – Accidental Origami
Denise Cicuto – Mask Up
Denise Cicuto – Liam Died
At the beginning of the pandemic, when food and other staples were scarce, I realized I could still appreciate objects that broke. I saw beauty in the cracks so I photographed them. I was a bit sad that some of my favorite things broke but I will always remember when they did. A book I read came with a tear in one of the pages that popped up like an origami bird. That too will be as memorable as the book for me.
Finding out that a friend died of COVID-19 was the latter. The self-portrait was taken just hours after I found out he had passed away.
There has been a kind of shattering of the life we knew before the pandemic and there will be new things that emerge. This is what I tried to capture when I picked up my camera during shelter-in-place."
Website
Works in Show
Denise Cicuto – Shattered
Denise Cicuto – Accidental Origami
Denise Cicuto – Mask Up
Denise Cicuto – Liam Died
Norma Córdova
My photography is an exploration of the human experience. Some of these images are illusions that conjure the realms of the imagination without presenting a factual reality while others can be documentary daily life moments where I felt compelled to pick up my lens and capture life as it was happening. I turn to photography to express myself impressionistically, exploring past personal events and current life observations.
Website
Instagram
Works in Show
Norma Cordova – 58160009
Norma Cordova – 62040010
Website
Works in Show
Norma Cordova – 58160009
Norma Cordova – 62040010
Neeley Drown
During this pandemic, millions of people have suffered from a loss of physical connection with their friends and family. We cannot hug people who are not living in our home. Touching people whom we love and care for brings us great comfort. After the first couple of weeks of sheltering in place, I wanted to connect with my friends and family that was a good antidote to online conference calls and social media.
My desire to interact with others grew stronger as we moved from sheltering at home for a few weeks to over 100 days, and with no end in sight. A friend suggested that I participate in a postcard exchange using my own images for the postcards. I created postcards from cyanotypes which I then toned and hand tinted. I wanted each postcard to be a unique treasure made with love and by my hands. I hoped that the photo postcards would provide some comfort as a substitute for a hug from me.
One of the symptoms of Covid19 is the loss of the sense of smell. The sense of smell is our second most powerful sense after vision. It warns us of danger, where there is food, and it also is linked to the parts of our brain that process and retain emotions and memory. As postcards are also very much linked to memories, I have created postcards that have a scent. The scent is connected to the image on the card. A postcard of flowers smells of flowers, a card of laundry hanging smells of lavender laundry detergent, and a postcard of the desert in the American West smells of desert cedar wood and earth. I know that for a digital show, you cannot smell the postcards, but the cards are meant to be intimate and held physically by the recipient. The images included in the online show are of scanned postcards and include the backs with the messages to the recipients. They represent private words for my friends and family during this time.
Website
Instagram
Works in Show
Neeley Drown – Ernie
Neeley Drown – Poe
Neeley Drown – Anne
Neeley Drown – Ella
Neeley Drown – Hedy Lu
My desire to interact with others grew stronger as we moved from sheltering at home for a few weeks to over 100 days, and with no end in sight. A friend suggested that I participate in a postcard exchange using my own images for the postcards. I created postcards from cyanotypes which I then toned and hand tinted. I wanted each postcard to be a unique treasure made with love and by my hands. I hoped that the photo postcards would provide some comfort as a substitute for a hug from me.
One of the symptoms of Covid19 is the loss of the sense of smell. The sense of smell is our second most powerful sense after vision. It warns us of danger, where there is food, and it also is linked to the parts of our brain that process and retain emotions and memory. As postcards are also very much linked to memories, I have created postcards that have a scent. The scent is connected to the image on the card. A postcard of flowers smells of flowers, a card of laundry hanging smells of lavender laundry detergent, and a postcard of the desert in the American West smells of desert cedar wood and earth. I know that for a digital show, you cannot smell the postcards, but the cards are meant to be intimate and held physically by the recipient. The images included in the online show are of scanned postcards and include the backs with the messages to the recipients. They represent private words for my friends and family during this time.
Website
Works in Show
Neeley Drown – Ernie
Neeley Drown – Poe
Neeley Drown – Anne
Neeley Drown – Ella
Neeley Drown – Hedy Lu
Carmina Eliason
After becoming a mom in the Spring of 2019 I found it challenging to get back to my creative life. I was always tired, and consistently pulled back and forth between my daughter and the work I wanted to make. In February of 2020 I noticed that both of us were becoming more physically independent from one another. I was excited to go out more and get more time to work and concentrate. I began to get more rest. However, as soon as the pandemic hit, I found myself in a space that felt like the newborn stage, tightly tethered to home and baby.
Our small apartment began to grow smaller by the minute, especially as she began to take her first stumbling steps. We realized we needed to leave our home of seven years behind to accommodate two adults suddenly at home all the time, a swiftly growing toddler, and our dog and cat.
At the time of writing this, it is after three full weeks of preparing for our move. We are exhausted from every waking moment devoted to packing and leaving things behind. We are tired from repacking boxes we have so carefully packed after a 14-month has had the joy of unpacking them.
We are weary from a crisis that isolates us, makes us scared for our loved ones every day, and makes very obvious the systems of oppression that are failing our communities.
And yet we know we must look for rest when we can because this crisis is far from over.
As I look through my phone's recent images, I find that the moments I am actually able to document reflect moments of rest. The moments themselves hardly lasted longer than the time it took to take the image. When I view them, they strangely appear to capture a long lazy restful summer, instead of the aching heart-piercing twinge that comes from leaving a place you love, during a pandemic.
Website
Works in Show
Carmina Eliason - The free chair I put out at the community center, where someone rested for several hours while charging their phone
Carmina Eliason – My knees hanging over the hammock’s edge while I spend one last evening with the ancient oak that watched over me for the last seven years
Carmina Eliason – Our last morning in the bedroom where we spent her first morning
Diane Fenster
A Long History Of Dark Sleep:
Anxiety and insomnia self-portraits during the pandemic of COVID-19
In this time of Covid-19, I sleep alone but fear is my lover. We embrace fretfully and stare at the ceiling. At this late hour, there is no one to call, all the lines are dead and the buses have stopped running. This is my chance to record anxiety, to photograph the noir that surrounds me and find some truth and perhaps beauty in the dead of night. The camera comes to bed with me and a flashlight is my light-source.
I have never liked being photographed. A series based on self-portraits could not have happened until this moment in time. Coming face to face with potential death carried on the breeze by an invisible agent has the power to propel me to self-examination in spite of distress. My aim is fretful, the focus unsteady. It's all about chance, isn't it, what the lens captures, who gets the virus.
Website
Works in Show
Diane Fenster – Covid-19.06
Diane Fenster – Covid-19.23
Diane Fenster – Covid-19.25
Diane Fenster – Covid-19.32
Debbie Fier
I am a professional musician, and my work screeched to a halt after the pandemic hit in mid-March. As a nature lover, I found myself craving wide open spaces, after having to shelter in place in my home. I spent a lot of time in my backyard garden and in my bee hives. And as the Black Lives Matter protests took off, the art in downtown Oakland became an incredible powerful art gallery. I am fairly new to photography, but love the medium and love challenging myself as well as sharing images that most people don't usually see.
Website
Works in Show
Debbie Fier – The Queen Bee and her workers
Debbie Fier – Mustard Field
Website
Works in Show
Debbie Fier – The Queen Bee and her workers
Debbie Fier – Mustard Field
Susan Gutterman
As our world shut down in mid-March, I felt that I wanted to do something to record this historic time. Between April 1st and May 15th I photographed thirty wonderful families in my San Jose neighborhood of Willow Glen. I called my project "Pandemic Porch Portraits". I wore a mask and stayed a very safe distance from my subjects. I loved getting out and meeting these families and they often told me that my session was the high point of their week/month. They actually had a reason to get dressed and, for the women, to fix their hair and put on a little make-up! I am now in the process of compiling a book of the project which will be for sale, with a portion of the profits donated to charity. I did not ask for payment for the photo shoots; I only asked that each family make a donation to their favorite charity or one that I recommend.
Website
Works in Show
Susan Gutterman – All Those Boxes!
Susan Gutterman – And Time to Play!
Susan Gutterman – Missing School
Website
Works in Show
Susan Gutterman – All Those Boxes!
Susan Gutterman – And Time to Play!
Susan Gutterman – Missing School
Sally Hedges Greenwood
Total lockdown in England UK started on 23 March 2020.
Powerless in a way that most had never felt before; I recognised I was in the first stages of trauma: partway between anxiety and paralysis: wanting to escape from that moment but knowing that to do so would put me at risk of impacting the effects of what was happening to me — to us all — as we faced our own mortality in isolation. I turned naturally to photography to help me — to document and create order out of my chaotic mind; to explore and diffuse my emotions.
My photographs are a melange of moments with different layers of meaning, hinted at in their titles; some more poignant to me personally than others. All reveal aspects of that particular period up to 31 May, when England started to relieve some restrictions. Then we started to face the realisations that the virus was here to stay; we had to adjust to a new reality with socio-economic hardships of the like that were as yet unknown to us.
Website
Instagram
Works in Show
Sally Hedges Greenwood – Within Four Walls
Sally Hedges Greenwood – Behind Closed Doors
Powerless in a way that most had never felt before; I recognised I was in the first stages of trauma: partway between anxiety and paralysis: wanting to escape from that moment but knowing that to do so would put me at risk of impacting the effects of what was happening to me — to us all — as we faced our own mortality in isolation. I turned naturally to photography to help me — to document and create order out of my chaotic mind; to explore and diffuse my emotions.
My photographs are a melange of moments with different layers of meaning, hinted at in their titles; some more poignant to me personally than others. All reveal aspects of that particular period up to 31 May, when England started to relieve some restrictions. Then we started to face the realisations that the virus was here to stay; we had to adjust to a new reality with socio-economic hardships of the like that were as yet unknown to us.
Website
Works in Show
Sally Hedges Greenwood – Within Four Walls
Sally Hedges Greenwood – Behind Closed Doors
Susan Hillyard
Sheltering in Place During Covid
What am I left to deal with during this pandemic but myself and my ever-growing mane which gets longer each day. It drapes around my face. I hide behind it. Home alone, I am estranged from friends and family. I live in a condo and I am not motivated to photographically explore the small world I am sheltered in. I used to live in a lovely home until 1 1/2 years ago when I moved from Santa Cruz to Oakland to be closer to family whom I can no longer be physically close to. Due to Covid-19, my daughter was laid off and had to give up her home close to me and has moved to Los Angeles. I can no longer take walks with her. I am sad. Yet I am hopeful that this pandemic will end before my time on earth does though I am doubtful that life will ever be quite the same as it once was.
Website
Instagram
Works in Show
Susan Hillyard – Self-Portrait in the time of the Coronavirus #1
Susan Hillyard – Self-Portrait in the time of the Coronavirus #2
Susan Hillyard – Self-Portrait in the time of the Coronavirus #3
What am I left to deal with during this pandemic but myself and my ever-growing mane which gets longer each day. It drapes around my face. I hide behind it. Home alone, I am estranged from friends and family. I live in a condo and I am not motivated to photographically explore the small world I am sheltered in. I used to live in a lovely home until 1 1/2 years ago when I moved from Santa Cruz to Oakland to be closer to family whom I can no longer be physically close to. Due to Covid-19, my daughter was laid off and had to give up her home close to me and has moved to Los Angeles. I can no longer take walks with her. I am sad. Yet I am hopeful that this pandemic will end before my time on earth does though I am doubtful that life will ever be quite the same as it once was.
Website
Works in Show
Susan Hillyard – Self-Portrait in the time of the Coronavirus #1
Susan Hillyard – Self-Portrait in the time of the Coronavirus #2
Susan Hillyard – Self-Portrait in the time of the Coronavirus #3
Sanborn Hodgkins
I live in Italy these days and I was here during the lockdown. From the first day on March 9, when Italy’s Prime Minister issued a strict lockdown order for the entire country, life became surreal. Unnerving and unsettling.
In March and April, everyone was basically restricted to their homes. It felt like house arrest. I couldn’t even go to the town next door, where most of my friends lived. It was very hard to be completely isolated in a country that was silent and empty. I took a few photos during the lockdown to show my friends and family what life was like here, but it was hard to take many because I wasn’t supposed to be outside.
We were only permitted to go a short distance to buy food and we had to carry a formal document with us at all times that stated our name and address and purpose for being abroad. Police drove around and checked your documents and masks. A friend got a $450 fine for going for a walk without a mask. I went on my bike to the supermarket sometimes and saw many banners homemade by children saying “Andrà Tutto Bene” (Everything will be Okay). When I went to the small local shops, they had a strict “one at a time with a mask” entrance policy and there were always people calmly lined outside the butcher and the greengrocers. Shocking in a country known for never queueing up.
In early May we were allowed to travel further out, so I could finally go to the town next door, but wearing a mask was always mandatory. In the first few days, the beautiful main church square was deserted which made it feel like a stage set. Eventually some shops opened and there were a few people in the streets, but everyone wore a mask and some wore gloves too, which surprised me. A stylish shop in town displayed fashion masks in its windows, but most shops remained closed.
In the beginning it was strange to talk with friends and family in America because I felt I was in prison and they were free. Now in mid-July, it is strange to talk with them because it feels safe here but it feels chaotic and unsettled in the States.
Website
Instagram
Works in Show
Sanborn Hodgkins – Masks Behind Bars
Sanborn Hodgkins – Empty Stage Set
Sanborn Hodgkins – Everything Will Be Okay
In March and April, everyone was basically restricted to their homes. It felt like house arrest. I couldn’t even go to the town next door, where most of my friends lived. It was very hard to be completely isolated in a country that was silent and empty. I took a few photos during the lockdown to show my friends and family what life was like here, but it was hard to take many because I wasn’t supposed to be outside.
We were only permitted to go a short distance to buy food and we had to carry a formal document with us at all times that stated our name and address and purpose for being abroad. Police drove around and checked your documents and masks. A friend got a $450 fine for going for a walk without a mask. I went on my bike to the supermarket sometimes and saw many banners homemade by children saying “Andrà Tutto Bene” (Everything will be Okay). When I went to the small local shops, they had a strict “one at a time with a mask” entrance policy and there were always people calmly lined outside the butcher and the greengrocers. Shocking in a country known for never queueing up.
In early May we were allowed to travel further out, so I could finally go to the town next door, but wearing a mask was always mandatory. In the first few days, the beautiful main church square was deserted which made it feel like a stage set. Eventually some shops opened and there were a few people in the streets, but everyone wore a mask and some wore gloves too, which surprised me. A stylish shop in town displayed fashion masks in its windows, but most shops remained closed.
In the beginning it was strange to talk with friends and family in America because I felt I was in prison and they were free. Now in mid-July, it is strange to talk with them because it feels safe here but it feels chaotic and unsettled in the States.
Website
Works in Show
Sanborn Hodgkins – Masks Behind Bars
Sanborn Hodgkins – Empty Stage Set
Sanborn Hodgkins – Everything Will Be Okay
Marilyn Howard
My name is Marilyn Howard. I am a 77-year-old retired nurse. I have had no formal art/photography training but lots of helpful mentors have enhanced my photo skills. I got my first SLR camera to document my first huge adventure to Nepal in 1994. Since then a camera has been my companion on travels around the world. The photos keep travel memories alive as I relive the beauty of so many places. Covid has put my travels on hold so my backyard is as far as I go.
Works in Show
Marilyn Howard – Bear Hunting
Marilyn Howard – Social Distanced
Works in Show
Marilyn Howard – Bear Hunting
Marilyn Howard – Social Distanced
Jessica Erin Judd
I am an East Bay Area-based nature and wildlife photographer with an eye for the unseen and overlooked. I have been fascinated with macro photography since I was a child when I fell in love with a photo of a dandelion blossom that my grandfather had taken with a macro lens. I was captivated by both the detail and abstraction found in the resulting print and loved the change in perspective while viewing a common weed.
While I played around with taking snapshots as a child, and learned to use a manual SLR and some darkroom technique as a teen, I spent a number of years in my teens and twenties with no camera and shot very little. My interest was sparked again in the mid-aughts when I had access to an early Canon PowerShot. With limited formal photography training, I am mostly self-taught and started working more seriously on photography about ten years ago when I acquired a DSLR when my children were one and four years of age. That camera became our companion on our outings to museums, farms, parks, gardens, trails and all our trips, big or small. I learned to find photographic interest in everyday things and everyday places, and started building a body of work out of our adventures and daily life.
My work encompasses macro nature photography, landscapes, wildlife, and documentary photography. When I work with people, I strive to show them as they are, exhibiting their emotions and humanity. I find inspiration in the textures, geometry, colors, and patterns found in the natural world, from the stripes on a bee to the lines on a granite mountainside to the shape of water flowing over rocks. Through my work I strive to reveal details of our surroundings that may not be readily observed, whether they reside in a vast landscape or in the face of a minuscule insect.
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed a lot of how I work. We have been very physically isolated in shelter-in-place since early March. There have been no trips and none of the horizon. The area parks that are open have largely been too crowded for comfort in these times and we cannot reliably safely visit them. I have shot a lot in our yard, of the flowers, our garden, and the birds and insects which inhabit it. I’ve shot a friend through his windows and in his yard from twenty feet away while wearing a mask. I am working to find inspiration in a time that is filled with heartbreak, worry, frustration, and fear. The work is slower and progresses at a different pace than before, but it is there. I feel fortunate to be able to document this time and some of how we are experiencing it in this way.
Website
Works in Show
Jessica Judd – Framed
Jessica Judd – Until Next Week…
While I played around with taking snapshots as a child, and learned to use a manual SLR and some darkroom technique as a teen, I spent a number of years in my teens and twenties with no camera and shot very little. My interest was sparked again in the mid-aughts when I had access to an early Canon PowerShot. With limited formal photography training, I am mostly self-taught and started working more seriously on photography about ten years ago when I acquired a DSLR when my children were one and four years of age. That camera became our companion on our outings to museums, farms, parks, gardens, trails and all our trips, big or small. I learned to find photographic interest in everyday things and everyday places, and started building a body of work out of our adventures and daily life.
My work encompasses macro nature photography, landscapes, wildlife, and documentary photography. When I work with people, I strive to show them as they are, exhibiting their emotions and humanity. I find inspiration in the textures, geometry, colors, and patterns found in the natural world, from the stripes on a bee to the lines on a granite mountainside to the shape of water flowing over rocks. Through my work I strive to reveal details of our surroundings that may not be readily observed, whether they reside in a vast landscape or in the face of a minuscule insect.
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed a lot of how I work. We have been very physically isolated in shelter-in-place since early March. There have been no trips and none of the horizon. The area parks that are open have largely been too crowded for comfort in these times and we cannot reliably safely visit them. I have shot a lot in our yard, of the flowers, our garden, and the birds and insects which inhabit it. I’ve shot a friend through his windows and in his yard from twenty feet away while wearing a mask. I am working to find inspiration in a time that is filled with heartbreak, worry, frustration, and fear. The work is slower and progresses at a different pace than before, but it is there. I feel fortunate to be able to document this time and some of how we are experiencing it in this way.
Website
Works in Show
Jessica Judd – Framed
Jessica Judd – Until Next Week…
Lesley Louden
My photographs portray the discoveries possible during the daily household unruliness that the COVID-19 SIP created for my family, and for so many dual working-parent households. Each day I felt a range of emotions, all at once, and needed to find a way to embrace the chaos of both small and large kid messes, mutually indoors and out, as they found ways to ‘help themselves.’ As both their dad and I navigated zoom meetings, phone calls, memo writing, assignment grading, ‘child-care,’ and homeschooling, all at once, the kids made their own food, played with the neighbor’s dogs, found frogs, and created their own swimming pools (when we were able to confiscate the tablets and tv). As the daily swirl of school and sports dissolved all in one day, I can now see, reflecting with the daily images captured with my camera, that I have been photographically prolific like I have not been able to be in years. I also found comfort in our new situation by reconnecting to the days of my youth, full of freedom and discovery in nature in a much slower world.
Website
Instagram
Works in Show
Lesley Louden – “All at Once” series #1
Lesley Louden – "All at Once" series #2
Lesley Louden – "All at Once" series #3
Lesley Louden – "All at Once" series #4
Lesley Louden – "All at Once" series #5
Website
Works in Show
Lesley Louden – “All at Once” series #1
Lesley Louden – "All at Once" series #2
Lesley Louden – "All at Once" series #3
Lesley Louden – "All at Once" series #4
Lesley Louden – "All at Once" series #5
Arnona Oren
With no place to call home as the coronavirus pandemic jolted the world into a surreal existence, shooting photos kept me grounded and afforded me a sense of sanity as a short stopover in Silicon Valley stretched into a four months stay.
The threat of the coronavirus pandemic became evident as my spouse and I had returned to the Bay Area from a year and a half long journey overseas and across the United States. Our goal was to quickly pack and ship our household belongings, which had been left behind, to our intended new home abroad and be on our way there as soon as we were done. A week later, while in the midst of packing, a “shelter-in-place” order was announced by Santa Clara County, mandating people to stay at home and all non-essential businesses to shutter, bringing “life as usual” to a screeching halt and trapping us in a tiny Airbnb house.
Confined to my immediate neighborhood, I wandered the area again and again with my camera to capture my impressions of the turmoil confronting us all. There was no escape from experiencing the harsh effect the lockdown had on my neighbors as well as on the many local businesses.
Struck by the loud stillness of nearby major city arteries that usually bustle with automobiles, by the total emptiness of popular shops and restaurants, and by long queues of customers practicing social distancing while awaiting their turn to enter essential stores only to find bare shelves, my images present a narrative of a new inconceivable way of life imposed on us in the attempt to contain an invisible enemy.
Works in Show
Arnona Oren - No Title
Arnona Oren - No Title
The threat of the coronavirus pandemic became evident as my spouse and I had returned to the Bay Area from a year and a half long journey overseas and across the United States. Our goal was to quickly pack and ship our household belongings, which had been left behind, to our intended new home abroad and be on our way there as soon as we were done. A week later, while in the midst of packing, a “shelter-in-place” order was announced by Santa Clara County, mandating people to stay at home and all non-essential businesses to shutter, bringing “life as usual” to a screeching halt and trapping us in a tiny Airbnb house.
Confined to my immediate neighborhood, I wandered the area again and again with my camera to capture my impressions of the turmoil confronting us all. There was no escape from experiencing the harsh effect the lockdown had on my neighbors as well as on the many local businesses.
Struck by the loud stillness of nearby major city arteries that usually bustle with automobiles, by the total emptiness of popular shops and restaurants, and by long queues of customers practicing social distancing while awaiting their turn to enter essential stores only to find bare shelves, my images present a narrative of a new inconceivable way of life imposed on us in the attempt to contain an invisible enemy.
Works in Show
Arnona Oren - No Title
Arnona Oren - No Title
Mandana Ranjbarcheshmehsorkhi
Photography has always been a part of my life. Photography was in my blood from birth. I took my first photo when I was a child with my dad's camera. I fell completely in love with photography. I spent much of my spare time walking around taking photographs, learning all that I could through trial and error.
I started professional photography when I was twenty years old. I worked as a photojournalist. And I took photographs for a live theater for more than ten years in Iran. I tried most of the genres of photography. I discover myself especially in Fine Art photography. It allows me to be more creative, to take risks and it has opened my eyes to the depth of the subject.
Photography allows me to express myself with the only boundaries being the ones I create. When I make a piece I allow the viewer to come into my space and go on a journey with me.
As my knowledge in photography expands, I still find areas and subject matter which I’m drawn to, and as the years pass, I Still find new ways to present an image, having it represent ideas more clearly.
Photography has altered my perception of the world around me. I feel the need to capture every moment and interpret my surroundings in a way that no one else could. The ability to tell a story through light and composition is one I cherish. I love the fact that I can create an emotion within someone through a photograph.
My consideration of photography is to communicate a message, an idea or concept to be able to get it across implementing crucial visual communication methods. Essentially, to me it is what Art and Design is all about; communication.
Finally, the current state of the world and the rapid and unbelievable spread of the Corona virus has forced many people to stay at home. Undoubtedly, enduring quarantine is tedious for the photographer. But since the artist must turn threats into opportunities, I took some photographs at home and participated in this competition with a diverse array.
I desire the exquisite future when I spend my time doing what I love and enjoy.
Works in Show
Mandana Ranjbarcheshmehsorkhi – Swallowing the Universe
Mandana Ranjbarcheshmehsorkhi – Contagion
Mandana Ranjbarcheshmehsorkhi - Isolation
I started professional photography when I was twenty years old. I worked as a photojournalist. And I took photographs for a live theater for more than ten years in Iran. I tried most of the genres of photography. I discover myself especially in Fine Art photography. It allows me to be more creative, to take risks and it has opened my eyes to the depth of the subject.
Photography allows me to express myself with the only boundaries being the ones I create. When I make a piece I allow the viewer to come into my space and go on a journey with me.
As my knowledge in photography expands, I still find areas and subject matter which I’m drawn to, and as the years pass, I Still find new ways to present an image, having it represent ideas more clearly.
Photography has altered my perception of the world around me. I feel the need to capture every moment and interpret my surroundings in a way that no one else could. The ability to tell a story through light and composition is one I cherish. I love the fact that I can create an emotion within someone through a photograph.
My consideration of photography is to communicate a message, an idea or concept to be able to get it across implementing crucial visual communication methods. Essentially, to me it is what Art and Design is all about; communication.
Finally, the current state of the world and the rapid and unbelievable spread of the Corona virus has forced many people to stay at home. Undoubtedly, enduring quarantine is tedious for the photographer. But since the artist must turn threats into opportunities, I took some photographs at home and participated in this competition with a diverse array.
I desire the exquisite future when I spend my time doing what I love and enjoy.
Works in Show
Mandana Ranjbarcheshmehsorkhi – Swallowing the Universe
Mandana Ranjbarcheshmehsorkhi – Contagion
Mandana Ranjbarcheshmehsorkhi - Isolation
Gabrielle Rondell
Our Care Workers ~
Covid-19 has presented harsh challenges all around us, especially for those in the medical field who care for the sick & dying on a daily basis. After meeting & interviewing a handful of these brave women in the San Francisco Bay Area, one can only imagine how trying their jobs have been. They work tirelessly day after day on 10 to 12 hour shifts, helping patients & wearing uncomfortable protective gear which is often in very short supply. These diptychs attempt to capture the dichotomy these care-workers deal with after a full day of work. First, exhausted & spent & then the relief they experience after discarding their scrubs & protective gear once they change into their comfortable, relaxing attire. These women are warriors.
I spent much of my childhood making photographs with my father’s help & encouragement. My mother’s artistic & nurturing sensibility has influenced my work both emotionally & aesthetically. Studying photojournalism in college gave me the foundation to become the photographer I am today. As a writer & photo editor for my college newspaper I gravitated towards features & human interest stories. This propelled me to start my portrait & event business 20 years ago & has given me the opportunity to exhibit my photography. My personal work has enabled me to travel extensively photographing people & urban landscapes feeding my wanderlust & soul.
Website
Instagram
Works in Show
Gabrielle Rondell - Laura
Gabrielle Rondell - Ela
Gabrielle Rondell - Debbie
Gabrielle Rondell - Elana
Gabrielle Rondell - Chi
Covid-19 has presented harsh challenges all around us, especially for those in the medical field who care for the sick & dying on a daily basis. After meeting & interviewing a handful of these brave women in the San Francisco Bay Area, one can only imagine how trying their jobs have been. They work tirelessly day after day on 10 to 12 hour shifts, helping patients & wearing uncomfortable protective gear which is often in very short supply. These diptychs attempt to capture the dichotomy these care-workers deal with after a full day of work. First, exhausted & spent & then the relief they experience after discarding their scrubs & protective gear once they change into their comfortable, relaxing attire. These women are warriors.
I spent much of my childhood making photographs with my father’s help & encouragement. My mother’s artistic & nurturing sensibility has influenced my work both emotionally & aesthetically. Studying photojournalism in college gave me the foundation to become the photographer I am today. As a writer & photo editor for my college newspaper I gravitated towards features & human interest stories. This propelled me to start my portrait & event business 20 years ago & has given me the opportunity to exhibit my photography. My personal work has enabled me to travel extensively photographing people & urban landscapes feeding my wanderlust & soul.
Website
Works in Show
Gabrielle Rondell - Laura
Gabrielle Rondell - Ela
Gabrielle Rondell - Debbie
Gabrielle Rondell - Elana
Gabrielle Rondell - Chi
Frances Schaeffer
This work consists of multi-image pieces of photographs I have made chronicling my daily life. Each piece speaks to the experience of the constancy of everyday life in the midst of the rapidly changing atmosphere of this global pandemic.
Moving through this time at a toddler’s pace, I’m reminded that I was (as humans are) born with an innate curiosity and desire to learn which propelled me forward with incredible motivation to evolve, adapt, and grow into an adult. As a parent, I feel called to adapt and evolve right along with my child while providing consistency, love, and support as I always strive to do. My hope in creating this work was to give voice to what it feels like (in some small way) to be experiencing this difficult and transitional rebirth alongside a small child, who is vivacious, young and full of spirit.
This concept of multi-image pieces allowed me to mix the ordinary with the extraordinary. This worked as a way to translate the felt experience of raising a young child in the midst of an exceptional time. Each image on its own is perhaps not remarkable, but the collective tells the story of a small child, who, despite the sea of change that surrounds her, continues to grow and develop. She sleeps, she laughs, she feels, she plays, she dreams. For her, she knows no different life, and she adapts to her new circumstances with courage and delight.
Instagram
Works in Show
Frances Schaeffer – Day 91
Frances Schaeffer – Drawing Hope
Frances Schaeffer – Family
Frances Schaeffer – Dreamwalk
Frances Schaeffer – Lock In, Look Out
Moving through this time at a toddler’s pace, I’m reminded that I was (as humans are) born with an innate curiosity and desire to learn which propelled me forward with incredible motivation to evolve, adapt, and grow into an adult. As a parent, I feel called to adapt and evolve right along with my child while providing consistency, love, and support as I always strive to do. My hope in creating this work was to give voice to what it feels like (in some small way) to be experiencing this difficult and transitional rebirth alongside a small child, who is vivacious, young and full of spirit.
This concept of multi-image pieces allowed me to mix the ordinary with the extraordinary. This worked as a way to translate the felt experience of raising a young child in the midst of an exceptional time. Each image on its own is perhaps not remarkable, but the collective tells the story of a small child, who, despite the sea of change that surrounds her, continues to grow and develop. She sleeps, she laughs, she feels, she plays, she dreams. For her, she knows no different life, and she adapts to her new circumstances with courage and delight.
Works in Show
Frances Schaeffer – Day 91
Frances Schaeffer – Drawing Hope
Frances Schaeffer – Family
Frances Schaeffer – Dreamwalk
Frances Schaeffer – Lock In, Look Out
Beverly Shalom
I call this series, L'Chaim/To Life: Experiencing the pandemic through an entire life cycle. My daily meditation in nature involved observing, connecting with and photographing birds throughout their process of mating, nesting, breeding, nurturing and fledging.There is something reassuring and comforting to me about knowing that this cycle of life continues, at a time when there is so much unpredictability and insecurity about our future. I created these photos to celebrate resilience and the preciousness of life.
I chose to focus this selection on egrets, because they are so majestic in their breeding plumage and so exuberant, sassy and fun to observe. I embarked on capturing their essence through action shots, where they could display their personalities and tell a story.
Works in Show
Beverly Shalom – Sibling Rivalry
Beverly Shalom – Mirroring
I chose to focus this selection on egrets, because they are so majestic in their breeding plumage and so exuberant, sassy and fun to observe. I embarked on capturing their essence through action shots, where they could display their personalities and tell a story.
Works in Show
Beverly Shalom – Sibling Rivalry
Beverly Shalom – Mirroring
Jan Watten
Pandemic Photo Project
Intrigued by how the pandemic has shaped our world, I am exploring taking portraits of people in masks and behind windows.
These images are a response to how we have had to change the way we communicate and interact with friends and loved ones. The portrait behind glass represents protection from the virus, but it is also a barrier – an obstacle to being able to connect fully with friends and family.
But there is also optimism and hope for connecting with the world, nature and our surroundings as I venture out to make these photographs. The people I photographed were excited to have the opportunity to do this, giving them a moment of familiarity and connection – something we are all yearning for.
Website
Instagram
Works in Show
Jan Watten – Dani
Jan Watten – Dulama
Jan Watten – Ginny
Jan Watten – Melanie
Jan Watten – Tom W
Intrigued by how the pandemic has shaped our world, I am exploring taking portraits of people in masks and behind windows.
These images are a response to how we have had to change the way we communicate and interact with friends and loved ones. The portrait behind glass represents protection from the virus, but it is also a barrier – an obstacle to being able to connect fully with friends and family.
But there is also optimism and hope for connecting with the world, nature and our surroundings as I venture out to make these photographs. The people I photographed were excited to have the opportunity to do this, giving them a moment of familiarity and connection – something we are all yearning for.
Website
Works in Show
Jan Watten – Dani
Jan Watten – Dulama
Jan Watten – Ginny
Jan Watten – Melanie
Jan Watten – Tom W
Julia Weber
If anyone had told me that Spring 2020 would be the end of the world as we know it, would I have believed it? I live in the suburbs of Hamburg in Northern Germany. How could I have imagined these empty streets, social and physical distance, national and even state borders closed, businesses and institutions closed, empty shelves were toilet paper used to be, detailed hand wash instructions and home school for months? All kinds of new rules and regulations to keep everyone safe, to limit the spread and to flatten the curve so our health system could handle the threat. A threat that we could neither see nor feel: Corona (or Covid 19) and its daily death toll was in all the news and on everybody's mind.
The only one who did not know about Covid was Spring. Spring came like it does every year and turned grey into green. Flowers poked their heads out of the ground, the trees blossomed and in the absence of traffic noise the birds seemed to sing louder than ever. Spring showed us that even in this time of uncertainty the sun kept shining and the world kept turning.
With the required distance from the rest of the world, our family grew even closer. My photographs reflect on this quiet time, so much time spent at home. Even my husband, whose job involves regular travel, started to work at home full-time. I bought groceries grandmother and talked with her through the door keeping physical distance. I tried to capture the everyday life of my immediate and extended family during this exceptional situation. "Mommy, I wish Corona was just a kitten, not a virus." My five-year-old daughter exclaimed impatiently as she waited for her older sister to finish her home school tasks for the day. Together we made rainbows and hung them in our windows as a sign of hope, that everything was going to be fine. We went on walks and bike rides to look for the rainbows that other children had made.
In May, the numbers of Covid cases had droped significantly and little by little the restrictions were relaxed. Kids were allowed to go back to school in small groups for a few hours per week. New rules for a life in coexistence with Covid emerged. Each school, business and institution now has their own set of hygiene rules. Masks have become a required accessory. As Spring passed and Summer arrived, life in Germany seems to fall back in old patterns. It's still a time of change. Covid is not over, I really wish it was just a kitten.
Website
Instagram
Works in Show
Back to School
Home School
Everything is going to be fine
Let´s play keep safe
Pandemic Summer
The only one who did not know about Covid was Spring. Spring came like it does every year and turned grey into green. Flowers poked their heads out of the ground, the trees blossomed and in the absence of traffic noise the birds seemed to sing louder than ever. Spring showed us that even in this time of uncertainty the sun kept shining and the world kept turning.
With the required distance from the rest of the world, our family grew even closer. My photographs reflect on this quiet time, so much time spent at home. Even my husband, whose job involves regular travel, started to work at home full-time. I bought groceries grandmother and talked with her through the door keeping physical distance. I tried to capture the everyday life of my immediate and extended family during this exceptional situation. "Mommy, I wish Corona was just a kitten, not a virus." My five-year-old daughter exclaimed impatiently as she waited for her older sister to finish her home school tasks for the day. Together we made rainbows and hung them in our windows as a sign of hope, that everything was going to be fine. We went on walks and bike rides to look for the rainbows that other children had made.
In May, the numbers of Covid cases had droped significantly and little by little the restrictions were relaxed. Kids were allowed to go back to school in small groups for a few hours per week. New rules for a life in coexistence with Covid emerged. Each school, business and institution now has their own set of hygiene rules. Masks have become a required accessory. As Spring passed and Summer arrived, life in Germany seems to fall back in old patterns. It's still a time of change. Covid is not over, I really wish it was just a kitten.
Website
Works in Show
Back to School
Home School
Everything is going to be fine
Let´s play keep safe
Pandemic Summer
Stephanie Williamson
Inside Outside/Outside Inside
These images are a visual diary of my walks during the Spring and Summer of 2020 in Alameda, recording the contemplative and ominous quiet of this moment.
Like many during the shelter-in-place, I have been walking in nearby neighborhoods for months. I have noticed things that I sped right past in my car for years. One of my first observations was that people appeared to be doing some deep house cleaning, as many odd objects appeared at curbside. I counted at least three dollhouses the first month along with the ubiquitous broken down furniture.
I was particularly drawn to a rather formal dressing table mirror in a weedy yard out at Alameda Point. It looked to me as if it was throwing its arms open to the sky, perhaps questioning.
Everything in the human world seemed to be in a sort of suspended animation – waiting. We were inside, longing to be outside, but unsure of the invisible dangers there. In the meantime, the trees flowered, the air grew warmer. Mother Nature marches on.
The isolation of once bustling locations was palpable - quiet playgrounds, silent swimming pools. Then at the start of the summer the streets filled with protesters and the boom of fireworks rumbled every night. On the 4th of July, after riding my bike to the Black Lives Matter protest instead of the usual July 4th parade, I saw this front yard tableau: Jacaranda blossoms and a tree swing framing the front porch message “RESIST,” a message for our time.
Website
Instagram
Works in Show
Stephanie Williamson – Free Mirror
Stephanie Wiliamson – Resist
Stephanie Williamson – Pool at Night
These images are a visual diary of my walks during the Spring and Summer of 2020 in Alameda, recording the contemplative and ominous quiet of this moment.
Like many during the shelter-in-place, I have been walking in nearby neighborhoods for months. I have noticed things that I sped right past in my car for years. One of my first observations was that people appeared to be doing some deep house cleaning, as many odd objects appeared at curbside. I counted at least three dollhouses the first month along with the ubiquitous broken down furniture.
I was particularly drawn to a rather formal dressing table mirror in a weedy yard out at Alameda Point. It looked to me as if it was throwing its arms open to the sky, perhaps questioning.
Everything in the human world seemed to be in a sort of suspended animation – waiting. We were inside, longing to be outside, but unsure of the invisible dangers there. In the meantime, the trees flowered, the air grew warmer. Mother Nature marches on.
The isolation of once bustling locations was palpable - quiet playgrounds, silent swimming pools. Then at the start of the summer the streets filled with protesters and the boom of fireworks rumbled every night. On the 4th of July, after riding my bike to the Black Lives Matter protest instead of the usual July 4th parade, I saw this front yard tableau: Jacaranda blossoms and a tree swing framing the front porch message “RESIST,” a message for our time.
Website
Works in Show
Stephanie Williamson – Free Mirror
Stephanie Wiliamson – Resist
Stephanie Williamson – Pool at Night
Beth Zook
Beth Zook is an aerialist grounded by the pandemic, trying to stay strong for a time when she can fly on her trapeze again. She is a lonely nature photographer seeking the flow in the light in this darkness. She makes her home in the inner East Bay.
Website
Works in Show
Beth Zook – Cardinal
Beth Zook – Spade
Beth Zook – Growth
Beth Zook – Pullup
Website
Works in Show
Beth Zook – Cardinal
Beth Zook – Spade
Beth Zook – Growth
Beth Zook – Pullup
