Sophie Wilson:
Sophie Wilson
Media Arts & Sciences major
I started taking photographs in high school, but it was a street photography workshop I took my senior year that changed how I thought about photography and the people I photograph. Since then, I have been trying to capture moments of theatricality with my subjects, whether it's through street or documentary-style photography.
~.~
Preserving Ephemerality:
Portraits of Campus Life During the Pandemic
archival inkjet prints
2022
Jewett Gallery
As a street photographer, the safety precautions instituted during the pandemic have barred me from pursuing my typical subject population. However, it was this very obstacle that facilitated this documentary-style work. I was inspired to start a photo series that represents the silhouettes of daily life at Wellesley College mid-pandemic and post-lockdown. I've had the pleasure of getting to know Noshin, Coco, Izzy, Ji, and Lamees, sophomores navigating their spring semester on campus. The sanctity of sophomore spring is rooted in its dichotomy: the freedom granted by an underclassmen designation is interrupted by major declaration deadlines and study abroad applications. All at once, sophomores are both rushing to relish their last few months of permissisble recklessness while kick-starting their imminent adult-ing pursuits. Put simply, sophomore spring is a final, precious window of opportunity where one can still afford to be a teenager. Capturing these fleeting moments was especially sentimental for me, a senior who never got a sophomore spring. Photographing these sophomores provided me with some closure, but, most importantly, this documentary work serves as a reminder of the many ways in which the pandemic continues to impact and reconfigure Wellesley as a campus, but also as a culture.
It was in observing and also in befriending the sophomores that I was able to fully comprehend the magnitude within mundanity. These individuals and their respective bonds with each other are a culmination of a freshmen year spent in isolation. Despite this, or perhaps because of this, they are spunky, hilarious, loud, triumphant. But it was in between the laughter and the parties that I witnessed their observant glances, their connected solitude, their unintentional synchronicity - even though all the photos are unposed. They are a class changed by hours spent existing alone together behind closed doors rather than out in the world. Introspection and silence are not only second nature, they are a way of life, a byproduct of people and friendships forged in unprecedented times. These sophomores personify a miraculous but simultaneously nonchalant resilience-- they have weathered the quiet, respected it, and now they are finally able to relish the noise of it all.
~.~
