A look at the effects of the pandemic in the United States through the lens of Elon Alumni photographers.
Standing in the middle of the intersection of Broadway and W. 44th streets in New York City was normally impossible. But with New Yorkers following stay-at-home orders, no cars were visible for blocks in April. (Oly Zayac ’17/freelancer)
Notes in chalk cover a near-silent Central Park. Sidewalk chalk has become a new way of communicating messages to one another around the city. (Oly Zayac ’17/freelancer)
In TriBeCa’s Oculus, a busy Saturday of shoppers, travelers, cafe-goers and Subway-takers have seemingly vanished. (Oly Zayac ’17/freelancer)
Emergency medical technician Jessica Bryant, of Guilford County Emergency Medical Services, wears an N95 mask and safety glasses, among other personal protective equipment, when treating patients suspected to have COVID-19. (Scott Muthersbaugh ’06/Perfecta Visuals)
A member of the Guilford County Emergency Services logistics team decontaminates an ambulance after treating and transporting a patient suspected to have COVID-19. (Scott Muthersbaugh ’06/Perfecta Visuals)
A Guilford County Public Health provider performs a deep nasal swab test to check for COVID-19 during a drive-through test in Greensboro, N.C., in early May. (Scott Muthersbaugh ’06/Perfecta Visuals)
Children ride bikes through the drained Reflecting Pool on the National Mall in mid-March amid stay-at-home orders that made D.C. streets unusually quiet. (Al Drago ’15/Bloomberg)
President Donald Trump speaks during a coronavirus task force press briefing held in the White House on March 22. (Al Drago ’15/The New York Times)
A man has his hair cut by a friend on a bench in the Shaw neighborhood in Washington, D.C., in April. (Al Drago '15)
After North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper issued a statewide stay-at-home order from March 30 until April 29, protesters marched down past the Executive Mansion in Raleigh on April 21, demanding that Cooper reopen the economy for business. (John West G’12/West Documentaries)
A mother and daughter dressed as the characters from the Netflix series The Handmaid's Tale march during the April 21 ReOpenNC rally in downtown Raleigh. (John West G’12/West Documentaries)
Protesters attending the April 21 ReOpenNC rally in downtown Raleigh shout at police officers. (John West ’12/West Documentaries)
In late March, the Rev. Carter Griffin participates in a drive-through confessional at St. Edward the Confessor Catholic Church in Maryland. (Caroline Brehman ’18/CQ Roll Call)
Reporters question Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., as they practice social distancing measures in the Capitol at the end of March. (Caroline Brehman ’18/CQ Roll Call)
UNITED STATES - MARCH 22: A visitor wears a face mask at the Thomas Jefferson Memorial in Washington on Sunday, March 22, 2020. (Photo by Caroline Brehman/CQ Roll Call)
Empty streets. Masked first responders. Protests on the state capital. These are some of the images Elon alumni photographing the nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic have captured as part of their work.
Al Drago ’15 and Caroline Brehman ’18 are covering the news in Washington, D.C., adapting to social distancing and other precautions to prevent the spread of the disease while thinking creatively about how to produce storytelling images. In North Carolina, Scott Muthersbaugh ’06 and John West G’12 are not traveling for they are photographing the responses they see in their own communities. Oly Zayac ’17 is also documenting the changes around her. Based in New York City, she’s covered stories worldwide, highlighting topics like cultural tourism and environmental issues.
“I watched New York drastically change almost overnight, and I quickly realized that the stories I used to chase all around the world were now at my own front door,” she says. “Photography was the only way I knew how to share our story.”