CapU in Photos: 2020

When I took my first photojournalism class, our professor sent us out on weekly assignments. Each week, we would study examples of a photographic creative device — rule of thirds, juxtaposition, decisive moment, to name a few — and our job was to go out and create an image that demonstrated the device in question. 

I still refer to that list of devices from time to time, but the one I rely on most as part of my day-to-day work at CapU is emotion. No matter what I’m photographing, some of my favourite images are made when I see and document people showing and sharing unfiltered expressions of how they are feeling. 

COVID-19 changed our visual language, literally overnight. Every event I was scheduled to photograph vanished from my calendar. Any image showing groups of people together was deemed unusable. As people slowly and carefully returned to campus in September, I quickly realized the challenge of trying to make emotional photographs during a time defined by masks, physical distancing and remote learning. 

While this collection of images, as a whole, may not be as vibrant as in previous years, I hope they show a glimpse of how we’ve found ways to march on despite the challenging year we’ve experienced together. I’ll never take photographing an event, with people laughing, high-fiving and hugging, for granted ever again.