Photo Portraits Capture Loss, Hopes of a 2020 Senior Class

 

As with most everything else, the COVID-19 crisis¹ hit U.S. public education hard. In most of the country, schools closed suddenly. Many schools asked teachers to continue offering their classes online. Tests and the school year were restructured, while sports and other school activities were cancelled.

It has been a difficult time for all students across the United States. But for those completing their final year of high school, the loss is sharper. No prom, their last school dance; no graduation ceremony to celebrate their success; no party to mark a major passage of life.

Photojournalist Matt Mendelsohn could see the sadness in his own daughter's eyes, and she is only an 11th grader. With luck, she will get to enjoy a public graduation ceremony and all the usual social activities in a year from now.

But her father was moved to do something for her older schoolmates, the seniors at Yorktown High School in Arlington, Virginia.

Mendelsohn volunteered to create photographic portraits in honor² of every 12th grade student registered³ at Yorktown. He sought to produce images that capture⁴ each student's special gifts, hopes and dreams.

The project might seem an unlikely⁵ one for Mendelsohn, who spent much of his career shooting pictures of presidents, movie stars, war zones and sporting events.

Capturing⁶ loss and hopes

"When we first started the project, I was trying to capture a bit of lost baseball season, the lost swimming season, the lost graduation, the lost chemistry awards. But soon, Mendelsohn said, the project changed from a documentation of loss to one of students' hopes and dreams. Jonathan Saldana's portrait, for example, shows the student standing⁷ with the telescope he built himself.

Jonathan, who wants to become an astronomer⁸, has been accepted to an honors⁹ program at a nearby university. But, like everyone else, he does not know if the school will open for fall term. And he is not excited by the possibility of beginning his college career online.

"It's just a little harder to stay focused... there is just less motivation," he said.

His classmate, Galilee Ambellu, has similar feelings. She plans to study chemistry at a university in North Carolina.

"If they do make the first semester¹⁰ online, I'll probably defer¹¹ until the spring semester," she said. "If I don't learn Chem 101 and Bio 101 correctly, I'm not going to be successful on the higher-level sciences."

And as for the last four months of her senior year?

"It was kind of devastating¹² because I worked so hard."

Galilee is not an attention-seeker, so it took some persuading from classmates to get her to take part in the portrait project. Now, she is happy she did it. She smiles broadly in the picture, chemistry test tubes in her hands.

"I'm not going to have many senior-like memories. So, this would be like a good memory that I could show my kids," Galilee said.

Rowan Jones, a history and philosophy student was supposed to go to Shanghai, China, later this year as a student of New York University. If schools remain closed, he says, he will take online classes. "It's good to be productive," he says.

Rowan leans on a group of books in his portrait.

Student Gracen Flores rests against an old magnolia tree for her photo shoot with Mendelsohn. She holds an old typewriter. Some books on the tree roots and grass around her.

Gracen, who writes poetry, plans to study education so she can teach in an elementary school.

"And I'd love to have a book published one day," she says.

Gracen is wearing a special dress in her portrait. She had been saving¹³ it for four years to wear on graduation day. But the public health crisis meant that day would never come.

"So," she said, "I figured this would be the perfect time to wear it."

She also expressed thanks for Mendelsohn's photo project.

"It felt really great to see that we were not completely forgotten and that we were still being remembered and had a way of showing how we are feeling," she said.

Anything but forgotten

Matt Mendelsohn says the project that began as a way to lift spirits locally, has gone viral online. The senior portraits have been shared again and again around the world.

"We have been on the evening news and ‘The Today Show' and The Washington Post," he said. "Now, I'm getting emails from Sydney, Australia, saying good luck to the seniors of Yorktown High School."

Sounds as if this graduating class will be remembered for many years to come.

I'm Caty Weaver¹⁴.

Words in This Story

photojournalist -n. the job or activity of using photographs to report news stories in magazines or newspapers

portrait -n. a painting, drawing, or photograph of a person that usually only includes the person's head and shoulders

focus -n. to direct your attention or effort at something specific

motivation -n. the condition of being eager to act or work : the condition of being motivated

semester -n. one of two usually 18-week periods that make up an academic year at a school or college

defer -v. to choose to do (something) at a later time

kid -n. a son or daughter

1 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

2 honor   

n.光荣；敬意；荣幸；vt.给…以荣誉；尊敬

参考例句：

• I take your visit as a great honor.您的来访是我莫大的光荣。
• It is a great honor to receive that prize.能拿到那个奖是无上的光荣。

3 registered   

adj.登记的，注册的

参考例句：

• Ships were registered abroad to circumvent employment and safety regulation. 船只在外国注册以逃避有关雇佣和安全的规定。
• In former times, only property owners could be registered as voters. 从前，只有有财产的人才能登记作选民。

4 capture   

vt.捕获，俘获；占领，夺得；n.抓住，捕获

参考例句：

• The company is out to capture the European market.这家公司希望占据欧洲市场。
• With the capture of the escaped tiger,everyone felt relieved.逃出来的老虎被捕获后，大家都松了一口气。

5 unlikely   

adj.未必的，多半不可能的；不大可能发生的

参考例句：

• It was very unlikely that he would do that.他不见得会做那种事。
• It is unlikely that she will come. 她不大可能来了。

6 capturing   

俘获( capture的现在分词 )； 夺取； 夺得； 引起（注意、想像、兴趣）

参考例句：

• Since when is capturing a felon considered interference? 从何时起抓住重案犯被认为是妨碍组员行动？
• Capturing the enemy-held towns is the pivot of our plans. 夺取敌人控制的城镇，是我们计画的轴心。

7 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

8 astronomer   

n.天文学家

参考例句：

• A new star attracted the notice of the astronomer.新发现的一颗星引起了那位天文学家的注意。
• He is reputed to have been a good astronomer.他以一个优秀的天文学者闻名于世。

9 honors   

n.礼仪；荣典；礼节； 大学荣誉学位；大学优等成绩；尊敬( honor的名词复数 )；敬意；荣誉；光荣

参考例句：

• He aims at honors. 他力求名誉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We did the last honors to his remains. 我们向他的遗体告别。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 semester   

n.一学期，半学年，六个月的时间

参考例句：

• A student will probably attend four or five courses during each semester.每个学生一学期可能要修四五门课程。
• I had an especially rough time during my first semester.我第一个学期的日子难受极了。

11 defer   

vt.推迟，拖延；vi.(to)遵从，听从，服从

参考例句：

• We wish to defer our decision until next week.我们希望推迟到下星期再作出决定。
• We will defer to whatever the committee decides.我们遵从委员会作出的任何决定。

12 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

13 saving   

n.节省，节约；[pl.]储蓄金，存款

参考例句：

• Energy saving is term strategic policy of our country.节约能源是我国长期的战略国策。
• Old-fashioned housewives were usually very saving.旧时的家庭主妇通常都很节俭。

14 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。