Many of our student researchers explored topics under our theme of “Family,” as a way to see how their impressions, experiences, and dynamics involving their family have changed as they experienced the COVID-19. To see our photos, scroll down to see each photograph and their SHOWeD method!
This photograph is important to me because it captures a more positive side to my quarantine & COVID-19 experience, one that makes me count my blessings and recognize my privilege. Because everyone was normally busy in their daily lives and packed schedules in a pre-COVID era, there was limited down time to spend at home and do small things such as bond with grandparents. This photo showcases an instance in which my grandmother made homemade samosas, a fried Indian snack with potatoes and peas, and explained her recipe to me. This offers an more uplifting perspective on what staying in quarantine at home in a multigenerational household could be like – passing down traditions and bonding between generations. The angle of the photograph captures her process and her hard work broken down into steps, taken as if it were from the perspective of her eyes, and the precision and age in her hands shows that she is skilled at making samosas because she has done this all her life.
– Rhea Jandu
This photograph is important to me because it clearly depicts the stress and shifting/ addition of roles on family members caused by the pandemic. Due to these reasons, there is growing tension and stress between family members throughout many AAPI communities and households. In the photo you can see the sink is filled with dirty dishes. After making the family’s first meal, my mother had to do the laundry and clean the house, so by the time she was done, it was already time for lunch. Barely having any time to rest, she had to prepare and cook the next meal for the family. Another important detail is that you can see she’s eating by the sink (standing) while others are eating on the other side of the island table (sitting) because she’s too busy serving everyone their meals from the kitchen.
– Grace Choe
This photograph is important to me because it captures a moment of gratitude through the struggles of life during COVID-19. My dad’s birthday celebration was shared in the quietness of our home without family surrounding us and sharing in our festivities as we normally would. Yet he felt blessed to have had a ‘covid’ birthday this year, so as to recognize how fortunate he feels to be alive and well during such trying times. This photograph offers a small space of light from the candles on his cake amidst a cold, somber, and lonely home in which we celebrated. His small grin reflects the light of the candles and holds a quiet strength in this small detail. The story of his birthday experiences this year reveals to me and many that might see this picture, that it is important that we, in this chaotic world, keep our spirits light and grateful. This seemingly small moment provides a sense of resilience and compassion in the face of loneliness and hardship.
– Jessica-Gabriela Ramirez
This photograph is important to me because it captures the heaviness of losing a loved one to COVID-19. Though not pictured, the story of my Lolo’s ‘covid’ death sheds a light on the ways our current public health system and infrastructure has impacted him, his family, and so many others of the AAPI community. My family members abstained from gathering to prevent any potential spreading the virus
to individuals like my Lolo who were part of high at-risk groups for the virus. But despite our efforts to socially distance, he still contracted the virus and passed away shortly after. My father was deeply impacted by my Lolo’s passing and on my Lolo’s funeral day he tried to video tape every minute to preserve this farewell. My father, a stern and serious man cried silently while struggling to take a video. My hands, more steady than his in this moment are pictured helping him to start his recording.
This photograph offers a gentler depiction of death rather than a focus on the corpse. It focuses on our hands—one helping the other. It contrasts generations through the youthfulness of my own hand against that of my father’s which looked worked, calloused, and aged. My father is an essential worker and has worked during and through the pandemic. His hands offer a depiction of AAPI essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and this picture offers a lens into their seemingly invisible experiences.
– Jessica-Gabriela Ramirez