ALEXANDRIA, VA–Now a full year into the pandemic, people are more attuned to a new normal of social distancing, mask wearing, and online learning; but that doesn’t make us miss the old normal any less.
The latest issue of the photography zine -your friend from college (YFFC) will be available online March 19th. Titled -your friend from college x your professor from college, this issue reflects on the nexus of the old normal and the new.
As always, proceedings go to help promote women in the arts. This issue’s proceeds go to Northern Virginia Community College Woodbridge photo department and Northen Virginia Community College Alexandria photo department.
Collaborating with five professors from the NVCC Alexandria art department, this issue of YFFC, themed Your Favorite Class Assignment, is a tribute to education and educators.
Debi Steinbacher, content creator for YFFC, says of the inspiration for this idea, “A sense of normalcy in my life was continuing with the classes at NVCC. They upheld some sense of connection and inspiration.”
Debi uses photography and this photography zine as a way to deal with the pandemic. She is not alone in that quest for escape.
Instructional Assistant and Photo Lab Assistant of Photography and Media, Cristin Hand, is one of the professors collaborating with YFFC. She says, “I think, like many, the pandemic necessitated a shift in priorities for me. YFFC’s assignment was an encouragement for me to refocus on personal objects.”
Associate Professor of Photography and Media, Page Carr, says she decided to collaborate because, “I was playing around with an idea and needed a nudge.” She saw her students’ “spirited collaboration and resourcefulness” and knew that was just the nudge she needed to push her through the school year.
Both escape and collaboration was imperative for helping not only the NVCC students, but also the NVCC professors through such a pivotal era for humanity.
Each contributing artist curated 3 to 5 images of whatever their favorite assignment was. Cristin’s favorite assignment was digital hand coloring in the introductory photoshop class, a technique she is using as an ongoing project to document her grandmother’s treasured family pieces.
Page’s favorite assignment was studio lighting using a home-based studio, bringing attention to the critical need to reduce, reuse, and recycle.
You might also find still life of masks or syringes, of people or places; a broad theme allows for broad ideas to ensure there is an image anyone can relate to, student or professor, surviving or thriving. Anyone looking for a sense of normalcy or escape can turn to YFFC.
