Here we are in July, and I'm still a little in shock of all the events that have transpired in the first half of this year. I wanted to carve out some space here on my blog to dedicate to the high school graduates of 2020 who have been impacted by Covid-19 in a unique way.
Inspired by the Front Steps Project I did this spring, the mom of a former student of mine reached out to ask if I would be willing to come by to take some photos of her son in his cap and gown with their family in front of their home prior to his graduation. I loved the idea and decided to put it out there for other families of graduating high schoolers as a way for them to document and memorialize this special, unique time.
In conversations with these high school seniors throughout The Gorge this spring, they shared unanimously that this is not at all what they expected their senior year to look like. However, despite the challenges and the disappointment that came from spending the last several months of their senior year in isolation, I never heard a single student complain.
I could sense the sadness as they told me about the last year of sports they were missing which would have been the culmination of all the hard work they had put in during the last several years building up to this finale. In addition to that, several of these students I photographed will be heading into the military and won't get a chance to see their classmates again before heading off to boot camp this summer, and those who are bound for college in the fall have no idea what to expect when they arrive for their freshman year of college...if they are able to go at all.
Despite all of the letdowns and unknowns, this is an incredibly resilient group of young people. It was such an honor to get the chance to photograph them and hear their stories. Undeterred by the uncertainty in which they are being launched into the world, their futures are bright and full of hope.
Congratulations, class of 2020!
Thank you!