Photography Through a New Lens
Every day we are capturing things that are happening around us. We do this through journaling or even posting about it on social media.
Meet our director of photography, Joyce Llopis-Martell. (Photo submitted by Joyce Llopis-Martell)
We want to capture moments throughout this time to remember everything that is happening. It can give us something to show our future family or friends about our experience during the pandemic.
Our own director of photography, Joyce Llopis-Martell ’21, tells us how she has been capturing her own pandemic moments around her hometown of Miami, Florida.
Joyce, who is continuing to take an Elon photography class online, mentions that it is interesting to see how her professor has transitioned their class online. The class is all about being hands-on and using the various amounts of photography material he would supply, including the studios, lights and cameras. But now, her professor is encouraging students to use whatever materials they have at their disposal, such as their phone cameras.
Her current project for the class explores a topic that she is passionate about: immigration. With this topic, she is challenged to use what she has at home to capture something far more universal and meaningful.
“I live in Miami, Florida,” Joyce said, “a city full of immigrants from all over the world.”
In order to do this project, she will take portraits of her family members and various landscapes of the city -- of course while keeping 6 feet of social distance.
“All the local businesses in my city are owned by immigrants. I wanted to show how they are being run during these hard times,” Joyce said.
This all shows how, despite all of the negative aspects surrounding the topic of the current pandemic, Joyce is persevering through and finding the positive in it.
This experience has pushed Joyce and her peers to learn more about the things they wouldn’t have normally interacted with if they were on campus. It has given each of them the opportunity to showcase their creativity beyond the Elon photography studio.
Above: photography by Joyce
For a recent personal project, Joyce drove around Miami to capture the different drivers on the road during the pandemic. She captured people walking into supermarkets, working and driving while wearing masks and complex facial expressions. This encouraged her to take pictures that captured the ever-demanded mask in different lights.
Joyce said the project explored the “representation of the mask as the one material that completely changed the whole world, but it has also helped many still work and go out for necessities.”
How can we begin or continue to capture these imperative moments in our lives, especially moments that we haven’t before experienced in our lifetime?
First off, we do not need anything extravagant in order to capture this chapter of our lives, especially fancy cameras or equipment. Joyce says that anyone can use anything, including a flip phone with a camera or even a camera from the thrift store. Then, she advises, open your eyes and find beauty within the simplest things.
“Take a few shots at first, then see how you can portray it in a different view while adding in your own touches,” she said. Joyce believes the best photography is found within the things you are passionate about and grateful for.