This project, in collaboration with Jennifer Granillo, invited people to submit a self portrait as a way to reflect on the global pandemic and protests across the country calling for social justice in our communities.
In order to facilitate submissions and encourage folks to participate, we designed and led a free photography workshop that covered the history of self portrait photography as well as instructions on how to take a self portrait. We also had participants answer two questions as a helpful exercise in documenting their experiences over the past few months:
· What is the single biggest lesson you have learned in the past three months (either from the pandemic, or from renewed interest in social justice for the BIPOC community)?
· What is the biggest thing you plan to change about your life moving forward?
Info on the free workshop we led
You can also email us with a submission or any questions at pandemicportraitsproject@gmail.com
Finola Rodriguez
Although I shared my thoughts during the workshop that "we all may not have been exposed to COVID but COVID has exposed us all" I would like to share a different lesson. Day by day, more and more is getting exposed about my character whether I like it or not.
On a more personal note, I have to be okay with sitting and looking at my feelings. I didn't want to sit with ugly, festering thoughts triggered by the pandemic and the immense privileges that came with identifying as the "model minority" next to my loved ones who have faced and still continue to face intense suffering and trauma for simply identifying as an individual in the BIPOC community. There sometimes will be no quick fix or remedy to alleviate these feelings of despair, loneliness, and scarcity. I am learning to let them play out and I am having more faith that they'll pass without completely consuming me anymore.
I mustn't stick timelines or rules on my feelings. I want to try to at the very least. Sometimes it means attaching language to my messy thoughts on the pages of my journal. Sometimes it means creating and/or finding little sources of abundance at home or in the spaces I am gifted at this moment. As you can tell, I really enjoy coffee, eucalyptus, and sitting next to the window. Sometimes it means simply being uncomfortable, sad, and lonely.
Julie Iwashita
The single biggest lesson I have learned over the time of the pandemic is that we can take nothing for granted, neither our physical and emotional health, nor access to our loved ones, and we have to make efforts to preserve these under extraordinary circumstances.
The biggest thing I plan to change about my life moving forward is to try to always have a plan to do or see something meaningful to me—whether that be to contact a friend or loved one or to safely visit a physical place I want to be.
Bryan Fishman
My self portrait is a bit different since it’s one of my daughter.
The biggest lesson I have learned so far is to truly be grateful for what I have. Things are sad and scary, but there is hope.
Biggest change is to strive to end complaining and to focus on what matters.
River Benson, “Invisible Me”
The one thing I have learned from the last few months is how very invisible we can become. Looking for work now that so many people are looking for work is daunting. However, I do not pity myself. If anything, I have become centered on what matters most to me - my husband, my family and my artwork. No little twisted piece of DNA/RNA can take those people and things away from me.
Going forward, is all we can do. Life does not allow us to stay still and nothing changes. I know that what we are experiencing will pass and I will remain happy.
Cole Montgomery
I took my portrait with a meditation bowl and a book of daily prayers by the poet Pádraig Ó Tuama. These elements have been an indispensable resource in finding a reservoir of peace and stability during a very challenging time. The past few months have offered a chance for self-reflection, or more accurately a testing of mettle, and the biggest thing I've learned is to have a renewed sense of trust in who I am. This is the reason for my smiling, happy picture. I've learned a deeper appreciation for my perspective in life.
I've always been an empathetic person. With the never-ending torrent of information we find ourselves in, I've found myself stuck in my own head too often as an act of self-preservation. These months have taught me to have even greater empathy, to listen to others' stories with my heart and not just my head. To have an embodied empathy.
Hernan Hernandez
My answer is rather cynical. I am sorry. But here it is: I have always been political and socially aware. I spent a great deal of my life working as an activist, first on Tenant Rights and Homelessness, then for a brief time in Education, and then on Public Health issues. As a Hispanic activist, I have long been aware of the inequity in the system. What I have learned is just how opaque the blinders were for Baby Boomer & Jonser Generation liberals and Democrats who really did think that the constitution and nation worked for us all, and that we really did live in a post-racial nation. That Republicans and Democrats were just siblings who disagreed and that that disagreement was a healthy thing. That we only needed a few tweaks, here and there, to fix our issues. I learned that their deep denial died slowly and painfully as the veil has been lifted from their eyes. I have learned that they yearn to go back to pretending as soon as this is over. Cynical enough for you? With that said, I have no idea how that relates to my photography. It is something I address more directly in my writing.
The short answer: I learned just how deep the denial has been among my middle-class Democratic and liberal friends as to the problems faced by the country and by people less fortunate than them.
I have been writing about the Puerto Rican diaspora, familial inspired stories, and social commentary for more than a decade. I have also been a street photographer for more than four decades. I plan to more fully dedicate myself to my writing and photography and publish and/or exhibit some of my work.