March 14: Dispatch From The New Classroom

March 14: Week in Photos

Your lens to the internet's most powerful photographs.

📸For Your 👀 Only:

Semester At Home

Gabby Jones

Gabby Jones' photo series on what school looks like for students in the pandemic offers insight into the collapse of boundaries between home, work, and school in a way that feels intimately familiar and thoroughly modern. The idea of a classroom being anywhere has been creeping into our culture for some time now, but the lockdown has confirmed that sometimes learning best happens from bed.

How did this get started?

I focus a lot on stories about youth culture. I grew up in Montclair, New Jersey, and one of my friends, her younger sister, was struggling to decide if she was going to go back to college. As I spoke with her, I was just amazed by how different everybody was coping, how they adapted to this situation. Students have this moment of freedom, and this very precious time that people cherish and is important to them was kind of taken away. Students everywhere are deeply affected by this pandemic academically and socially, which was interesting to see. They are socializing with professors and friends but it’s all virtually, so even though they are socializing it is still in this isolated sense.

After I spoke with my friend's sister, she referred me to one or two people, and it became this web. They’re not all friends but they’re entwined in this same space. I was originally going to venture out a bit further, but I found that by keeping it a bit more concise, it was more interesting.

I was aiming this project for students, because this is really isolating and there is always comfort in knowing that other people are going through something similar as you. This has been a really difficult time for everyone on all levels, and even though they were able to make the best of it, it is still a struggle. I think that knowing and seeing this shared experience, there is a lot of power in seeing that others stayed home too.

Gabby Jones

Can you talk about how the students were coping?

I felt that people were so motivated to make the best of their time. They had full- or part-time classes, and on top of that they were taking on internships or collaborating with people in town. This one woman, Clare, was doing a TikTok and a YouTube channel and during that time, she was like, I'm not 100% sure if I want to go to college anymore. She felt like she was in a good place and happy with what she was doing, and she was grateful for the experience because it bought her some time. I think a lot of people, although they are upset, they were like, This is nice because I can think about what I really want to do. I thought that was really beautiful, to see the resilience amidst everything.

What was the most surprising thing you found?

I was surprised by how many people did their homework in their beds, because that would really hurt my back, honestly.

Can you talk about a favorite image?

I think any photographer struggles with this, because it's not just the picture, it's also the experience that went into making it. I really loved to hear everyone’s stories, and I was really intrigued. For some of them it was really quick and for others we hung out. Obviously, that doesn’t always translate in the image. The one image that I took of Amity, that was the first picture I took in the whole series, and if I really had to choose, that would be one of my favorites, because when you are starting a project you don’t know if it's going to come out the way that you hope it will. And when I saw how she responded, and even being in the childhood room, with the hamster on the desk and the friends in the background, I just felt like — the photo of her got me even more excited about the whole series because it felt so intimate and vulnerable.

Gabby Jones

📸THE WEEK'S PHOTO STORIES FROM BUZZFEED NEWS 📸

This past week, we started Women's History Month, and the weather became tantalizingly warm in the Northeast US for a few brief moments.

As always, here are some of the best photo stories from around the internet, and what we loved from our desk.

THE EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER OF THE FIRST YEAR OF THE PANDEMIC

Al Bello / Getty Images

A QUICK LOOK AT THE DOGS OF THE IDITAROD

AP Images

OTHER THINGS WORTH CHECKING OUT

Ayun Fotografas Print Sale

CENTER Santa Fe has opened entries for grants

Getty Images

The ten-year anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear disaster is commemorated in Japan.

📝 This letter was edited and brought to you by the News Photo team. Kate Bubacz is the photo director based in New York and loves dogs. Pia Peterson is a photo editor based in Brooklyn. You can always reach us here.
💌 Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up to get BuzzFeed News in your inbox!

BuzzFeed, Inc.
111 E. 18th St.
New York, NY 10003
Unsubscribe

Show privacy notice and cookie policy.