What are you looking at?
If the past year could be categorised by one word, then I would like to propose that word is uncertainty. The Covid-19 global pandemic has, of course, introduced a level of uncertainty that we have not encountered before as various governments and institutions attempt to deal with the potential consequences of the virus using a variety of models. Our own government has cycled through variations on social distancing, travel restrictions and several national lockdowns that never seem to fully meet the challenges presented by this ever-mutating virus. This uncertainty has infected all aspects of our lives, from the medical and sociological to the political and economic.
While the virus has posed the most direct risk to the elderly, it could be argued that those most affected are the younger generations, those emerging from schools and universities into more precarious and uncertain times. The students who graduate this year could be characterised as the generation facing more challenges, more uncertainty, than their parents or grandparents’ generations and it would be hard to argue with that characterisation. However, this is only part of the story, that there is hope that these younger generations will find the solutions to the challenges we face, because the arrival of the Covid virus has perhaps only exposed the fragility and deep inequality of the systems we’ve built over the past 60 years.
Uncertainty is in reality an integral aspect of our lived experience and perhaps one of the greatest skills we can develop is to learn to live and thrive in the face of uncertainty. That a recognition of the precarious nature of our social systems is also a recognition of the possibility of change, of the potential to build a better, more equitable and sustainable society.
This year we as a course team met with the graduating cohort of students to speak candidly about the difficulties, they faced in their efforts to complete their studies. Importantly, rather than lament the limitations placed on us by the national lockdowns we spoke about the situation as a challenge to be met with creativity and ingenuity.
We spoke openly as a collective, recognising that if we were to succeed this year it would be through helping each other. The result is a truly remarkable cohort of graduating students. Students who have looked deeper within themselves and found a strength and resilience that has been a wonder to behold. Students who have not only faced uncertainty, they have used it as a motivation to question conventional norms, whether that is gender, sexual or racial politics, questioning the various roles photograph plays in shaping our understanding of the world. They have collectively met and overcome the significant challenges they faced this year and the work on show here is a testament to their tenacity, intelligence, and creativity. Pay attention, look, listen, and learn.
Liam Devlin