We're All In This Together
On View January 26 to March 23, 2022

An Exhibit of Photography Documents Gamut of Emotions and Events Captured on Smartphones
 
BRISTOL, Rhode Island – The Bristol Art Museum today announced the opening of a new juried community exhibit, We’re All in This Together, a collection of photographs featuring artists’ expressions of life during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly 100 images were submitted for consideration, with 64 selected and five photographs awarded the honor of mention. All prints of the photos were created and contributed by Bern Altman. The exhibit opens on Wednesday, January 26, and concludes on Wednesday, March 23, at the Rogers Free Library, 525 Hope Street, Bristol, RI.
 
The exhibit is comprised of photographs taken with a smartphone that express artists’ feelings or reactions to the ongoing pandemic. Artists were invited to submit photographs for consideration that were taken between 2020 and 2021 that express an aspect of their experience in the midst of, or as we emerge from, the global pandemic. The photos could be from a period of isolation, work as an essential worker, how family comes together, or what it feels like to emerge from the worst of the pandemic.
 
“More images today are being created than ever before. In large part, this is due to the ubiquitous nature of smartphone photography,” said Juror Cindy Horovitz Wilson, a photographer since 1976. “The cell phone camera is almost surgically attached to our person, unholstered at the slightest bit of inspiration. Images of all parts of our lives are now being taken and shared as never before. Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have been physically separated from each other, yet still manage to connect to a larger community.”
 
“A wide range of images from our smartphone cameras that are emblematic of our experiences of the past two years were submitted,” added Horovitz Wilson.  “In the selection process, I looked for interesting points of view, slices of the symbolic that told a greater story, the clarity of intention and subject, and above all, images that triggered an emotional response.”
 
Wilson offered the below thoughts on five pieces awarded the honor of mention.

​Waiting at the Station, Nina Wang
“In this image, the grittiness of isolation made starker in black and white,” reflected Wilson. “Symbols of the Covid mask, suitcase and a man alone with his thoughts begin to create a deeper story. Technically, the use of light and composition add to the emotional feeling of being separate and alone, emblematic of these times.”

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​Dreaming, Kathleen O’Connell
“The abstract nature of this image created by intentional camera movement is an alternate reality, one that only the camera sees,” shared Wilson. “What might have been initially a garden is a wash of color and texture. The time of isolation gave us the freedom to be more playful in constructing a photograph; to explore photography for the sheer joy of it.” 

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​Faceless, Eve Tobin-Caron
“There is a mixed message for me in this image,” explains Wilson. “On the one hand, it is a simple snapshot of two youths, masked and anonymous. The near figure’s gesture is either one of embarrassment toward the photographer or something more foreboding. Why the distance between them? One of the disturbing trends in the pandemic is that of increasing breakdown of respect between people, the physical distancing fuels that idea. The story does not define itself; it is up to the viewer to decide. The image does very well in black and white, giving a sense of timelessness and journalistic veracity to a scene that defies understanding.”

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​Volkswagen Graveyard, Donald Pimental
“The pandemic gave us renewed pleasure in walking for the purpose of exploration,” said Wilson. “What more delightful find in the crisp autumn air than a bevy of old VW Bugs! The subject is intriguing; I want to know more. Compositionally, the slightly off kilter listing of the lead vehicle supported by haphazard placement of the rest, gives a sense of chance and spontaneity, long a hallmark of the smartphone camera. A place of entropy and decay captured and frozen in time.”

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​Covid Baby Meeting Great Gram, Brittany Macdonald
“The ability of a successful photograph to record emotion happens in a split decisive moment,” said Wilson. “Such is the feeling of this image. The time-honored unconditional love between old and young has never been more poignant than today, when so many were denied the opportunity for extended periods of time. The communication between the two is palpable; the joy on the woman’s face and the playfulness of the child in the oversized hat is a moment now forever preserved.”

​Wilson earned her BA from the University of Rhode Island and received her Master of Fine Arts from Tyler School of Art of Temple University. After 20 years of working as a wedding photographer and three years operating a gallery in Wickford, Wilson began teaching photography to local classes and travel groups in 2009. Since then, she has led local travel photography workshops in New England and worldwide, combining her love of inspiring students, travel and making images.