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Evan House is a Chatham sixth-grader who says this is the weirdest thing he’s ever been through. He hopes this opens peoples’ eyes to just how important our local heroes are who are helping everyone get through the pandemic. Writing in chalk on his driveway, he thanked front-line workers with the message, “Not all heroes wear capes.” -
The stories are poignant. Ashley Carnes shares the incredible disappointment of having to forgo planned in vitro fertilization treatment after four years of trying to start a family. After investing thousands of dollars for medications to begin a difficult process, Ashley and her husband’s hopes were dashed nine days ahead of starting their treatment, uncertain of a renewed start date for their dreams of having a child. -
Zach Adams of Springfield went to the reopen Illinois rally on May 16 specifically to capture this moment in history. -
Zach Adams of Springfield went to the June 1 protest in Springfield, held in response to the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd. He submitted poignant photographs of the peaceful and powerful protest, describing the presence of so many races and so many people that came together for one cause. -
Obi “Obisoulstar” Uwakwe is a Chicago musician, artist and photographer who always enjoyed photographing the vibrancy of the city. Now, with a heavy heart, he sees the city through a different lens. He painted, “1,141,190 and up” while watching the news every day. His piece was completed on April 5 when there were 1,141,190 reported COVID-19 cases in the world. -
Oaklee Thiele is a Springfield artist and disability advocate. On April 19, Thiele’s entire family decided to cut each other’s hair, standing outside in their backyard. Thiele watched as his sister’s golden hair hit the bed of pine needles. Thiele believes she elected to shave her long hair off entirely because it was something that she could control. -
Katherine Sanford of Roscoe Village shares her perspective of being a stay-at-home mom, her husband working from home, while she tries to keep her three children on track with remote learning. She took a photo of her six-year-old son on a Zoom call with classmates, eight-year-old daughter doing schoolwork and four-year-old son in the background. She describes her photo as the idealized home school moment. However, behind the camera her reality was feeling overwhelmed managing school from home.
Joseph Copley is production designer for Illinois Times and co-publisher of Activator, the music and arts magazine. More by Joseph Copley
