Portrait series documents life for refugees amid coronavirus pandemic
Sunday, August 30th, 2020
At a time when the coronavirus forced billions of people into isolation, a Chattanooga photographer drew refugee families out onto their porches and front yards to capture a snapshot of life amid a pandemic.
Reed Schick, of Reed Schick Photography, captured the shy smiles, serious stares, family togetherness and joyful celebrations of dozens of refugees cloistered during the pandemic.
“I wanted them to be seen in that moment … and see themselves happy in unlikely circumstances,” he said. “There was a lot of joy in the photos and celebration.”
Reed, who is also a commercial photographer, got the idea for the series soon after the COVID-19 outbreak began in Chattanooga. With more time on his hands, he decided to make front porch portraits of his St. Elmo neighbors. Word spread, and he partnered with a historic neighborhood organization to document quarantine life of families in that East Chattanooga neighborhood.
“I photographed 100 homes,” he said.
One of the participants included Bridge Volunteer and Community Outreach Manager Hannah Mask, who collaborated with Reed to bring the project to Bridge clients.
“After participating in Reed’s portrait project in my own neighborhood, I realized how important it was to feel connected and visible to my community and neighborhood during social distancing,” Hannah said.
Reed photographed refugees from Colombia, Sudan and Democratic Republic of the Congo as part of the series.
“It’s really important to be intentional when photographing people and communities you’re not a part of,” he said. “What we kept coming back to was there were a lot of families and individuals who had just moved to Chattanooga and just relocated and their first experience with Chattanooga was COVID.”
In addition to documenting that experience, he wanted to show them what true Tennessee hospitality looks like.
“All the projects, for me, have never been about what I, as a photographer, can get out of the situation, but what can I give in the situation,” he said. “With Bridge, every family received photo prints and all the digital files.”
His hope is that they can look back on the photos and reflect on what their lives were like in 2020.
“This was an especially difficult time for recently resettled refugees who became suddenly isolated from their new community, and Reed and I agreed that the project could be a way to honor their presence and voices, and also to remember this unique part of their journey to creating a new home in Chattanooga,” Hannah said. “It was a happy coincidence that the day we took photos happened to be Eid Mubarak, so we were able to capture the joy of many clients’ first Eid in the United States. So, in addition to ensuring that refugees were seen and heard during the pandemic, our clients now have printed photos of an essential cultural celebration with their loved ones.”
While Reed didn’t get to deliver the finished product personally, Hannah sent him videos of their reactions.
“The people were really excited and really happy, which was really awesome,” he said. “(The project was) about those families and recognizing this is really a strange time and having photographs to represent those times. It was a really fun project.”