A virtual exhibit wants your best pandemic photographs.
Pennsylvania first lady Frances Wolf aims to preserve history and connect people by having them share their photographs taken during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“One Lens: Sharing Our Common Views” is a statewide virtual photo exhibit she is launching to document the story of Pennsylvanians through a challenging year, and just maybe help us push through the current crunch time as people begin to get vaccinated.
“I’ve never done anything like this before,” Mrs. Wolf told the Post-Gazette over the phone from the home in Mount Wolf, York County, that she shares with Gov. Tom Wolf. She is a painter who prefers to work in her studio, but from the start, the pandemic was making her, too, feel isolated and disconnected.
She made masks, which weren’t perfect. “I very politely called them ‘artisan,’” she said with a laugh. (Pro tip: Masks made from painter’s canvas are not comfortable.) To show her grown children that they, too, could make their own masks, she took photos of hers to send to them.
She also took “very proud photographs” of her attempts to bake her own bread (like everybody else was doing) and get back to knitting and embroidery, things she used to do. When she and her husband couldn’t have Thanksgiving with all the children and grandchildren at Mount Wolf, she took a photo of their table for two with an iPad — just a shot for the family photo album.
Sharing such photos within her own circles, talking to people, “It gave a peace,” she said. “The people you cared about were still out there. The things you care about were still out there.”
She’s hoping to “expand the embrace” with this compilation of photographs from people of all walks of life, all across this big state. While the photos will be personal, she said, “I think that ... we will come to the realization that we’ve all gone through the same thing.”
Whether it’s through “the pain and even some of the joys,” she said, “I think there are going to be a lot of points of connection, unbeknownst to us.”
And by helping to show we aren’t alone, “I think that will bring courage,” she said. “To get through our final push of this.”
“One Lens” is not, she stresses, a competition. Anyone can submit up to three photographs, made on whatever equipment. Photos by children and of children are encouraged, but an adult age 18 or older must submit them (with a waiver).
Photos must have been taken between March 2020 and the present and should be aimed at one of three themes:
• Our Heroes, described as “paying homage to the pandemic heroes who could not simply stay home.”
• Our Lives, “a look at how Pennsylvanians spent their time when no one was watching.”
• Our Communities, “a showcase of Pennsylvanians coming together during an unprecedented time.”
Helping to put together the exhibit are five regional ambassadors who will ensure that the exhibit reflects diverse experiences of a wide range of communities and individuals. The southwest’s ambassador is Riverlife President and CEO Matthew Galluzzo, who said he’s looking forward to kicking off the project next month. “I was really struck by the first lady’s vision for the exhibit as a way to humanize the pandemic.”
Photos, which become property of the state, may be submitted from Feb. 8 through March 8, and might be shared on new “One Lens” social media feeds. The full exhibit will be presented online March 19 and will be archived for the future.
“I think this is too good an opportunity to pass up,” said Mrs. Wolf, who trained as a historian as well as an artist.
“I think it will be fun to look at,” she said. “But I also think it might help” people to learn from and appreciate each other.
“It’s a way of describing for each of us the truth of our experience.”
Project partners are the Pennsylvania Tourism Office, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. For more information, including the technical specs that photos must meet and other rules, visit www.pa.gov/one-lens.