From the judges: The methodology of this series was very creative, with merging old and new technology. Such a creative approach to document authentic moments while generating positive student engagement.
Graduation portraits in the time of COVID-19
Category
Photography > Series of Related Photographs
Description
Silver
Institution: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Title of entry: Graduation portraits in the time of COVID-19
About this entry: Every spring, seniors at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill put on their Carolina blue caps and gowns and pose for photographs in front of the Old Well, the University seal and other iconic locations across campus. This wasn’t possible for many soon-to-be graduates in Spring 2020 since many students had returned home when classes switched to remote instruction and most of campus closed because of the COVID-19 global pandemic. To ensure we could still capture high quality photos of our seniors that celebrated this momentous occasion in their lives, photographer Johnny Andrews developed a plan to remotely take graduates’ photographs at their homes. He utilized technology of the times, Zoom, and technology of the past, a modified vintage Polaroid 195 camera, to capture the graduates’ personality in their Carolina blue graduation robes.