As COVID-19 changed the course of our lives, five strangers came together, from around the world, through a mentorship lead by Serge JF Levy and facilitated by the, then, new technology ZOOM. The five week workshop used photography as a way of processing and responding to the pandemic and was a crash course in relationship building through shared ideas and experiences during our new normal.

Carla Pohl shared polaroid images from still streets of Germany through her instant camera. In New Mexico, Natalie Christensen looked at a longing to escape the inescapable. Meryl Spiegel examined life with her husband, a primary care physician who treated patients throughout the height of the pandemic in Westhampton, New York. Sarah Ketelaars allowed us to gaze through the windows of her Houstonian high-rise and Stephanie Burchett explored the tension between light in dark through fractured landscapes.

CARLA POHL is a freelance photographer in Berlin. She studied with Arno Fischer and Sibylle Bergemann. Since 2016 she has been mentored by the photographer Gundula Schulze Eldowy. She studied art history and literature with the degree Magister Artium at the Free University of Berlin.
NATALIE CHRISTENSEN has shown her work in exhibitions around the world, including London, Berlin, New York and Los Angeles. She was one of five invited photographers for “The National 2018: Best of Contemporary Photography” at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art and was recently named one of “Ten Photographers to Watch” at the Los Angeles Center for Digital Art. Her photographs are in the permanent collections of museums and institutions as well as numerous private collections. Natalie is represented by Turner Carroll Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Susan Spiritus Gallery in Newport Beach, California, and Galerie Minimal in Berlin, Germany.
MERYL SPIEGEL is a photographer/artist who explores the human spirit and the wonders that surround her on the East End of Long Island, New York. In 2019, she was invited to exhibit her SPLASH series at the Venice Biennale. She has received awards from the Julia Margaret Cameron GALA Awards as well as the Fine Art Photography Awards (FAFA). STEPHANIE BURCHETT is a Lecturer of Photography at the University of Colorado Denver. Stephanie received her MFA in Studio Art from the University of Arizona and holds a BA in Graphic Arts from the University of Northern Colorado. Stephanie’s work has been exhibited nationally, internationally, and featured in Lenscratch, Don’t Take Pictures and A Photo Editor and in Denver Westword.
SARAH KETELAARS is a British photographer, currently living in Houston, Texas. She has a degree in English Literature from Jesus College, Cambridge, an MSc in Social Science from the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen and a Diploma in photography from City College, Brighton. She began her career as a journalist and has had photographs published in trade, local and national newspapers and publications. Her images have also appeared on book, cd and magazine covers. Sarah's work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and is represented by Trevillion Images & Getty, and by 35 North Gallery in Brighton.