SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) - Since so many events that high school graduating seniors looked forward to have been wiped over three months due to spread of the novel coronavirus, Sioux City photographer Elizabeth Barrett has been offering a free service to deliver warm wishes and a sense of normalcy.
Barrett, who also is a full-time teacher at Spalding Park Elementary School, has been offering free photo sessions to 2020 graduates in the tri-state region.
“The kids are grateful and so thankful. I’ve had moms in tears at the photo shoots,” she said, adding that one mother wanted to give a hug, but they both knew it wasn’t wise during a time of recommended social distancing.
The Sioux City Journal reports that over 11 weeks so far, Barrett has photographed more than 120 seniors, covering every metro high school, plus 10 others surrounding Sioux City, going as far away as Le Mars and Cherokee, Iowa. Barrett has also done a shoot for a home-schooled senior.
“It is a great thing for her to do,” Becky Alter, of Sioux City, said Thursday as Barrett photographed her daughter, Abby Alter, on the grounds of East High School.
Becky and Abby Alter said the school year ended so abnormally, with prom and traditional graduation ceremonies wiped out, after Iowa schools stopped having in-person classes beginning March 16. Abby Alter said she not only missed those big events, but also the day to day activities that happen in school. However, she is gratified that the first extracurricular activity to return in Iowa districts, with baseball and softball, means she can play as a Black Raider infield starter on the diamond for a fourth year.
Loving that sport was why Alter chose to have the East High softball field in the background of some of her shots, as Barrett moved her to four different places while shooting various poses. While Alter wore a black graduation robe adorned with various academic tassels and sashes, at one point she opened the robe to capture her East softball T-shirt beneath.
She was glad to don the graduation robe, for the photos.
“I missed the opportunity to graduate, to go out there and get my diploma,” said Alter, who plans to attend Iowa State University.
Barrett has been a teacher for 15 years, and added photography as a side job five years ago, after realizing how much she loved shooting sporting events of her children.
Almost all seniors who have taken Barrett up on the offer, which was made known in part by a Facebook page, wear graduation robes. Barrett said for some kids, they took senior pictures in more casual fare prior to the school year, but some students have told her this was their only professionally taken senior portrait, which gratifies her.
Barrett wears a face mask, and keeps her distance from the subject, which means using a longer camera lens.
“I want to do what’s right,” she said, while adding it is good to see the number of positive coronavirus cases is dropping in Woodbury County.
Barrett attempts to capture the essence of the students, so they’ll have a keepsake. After processing through the options, Barrett prints out the best image, which is given for free. If the senior wants to order more, they can pay for them. But this endeavor doesn’t come with a profit motive by Barrett, as it is pretty much a break-even situation.
Barrett, who missed out on finishing the school year with students she knew were making inroads in the final one-third of the year, likes knowing she’s making families happy.
Even during the busiest week when taking photos of 35 seniors in mid-May, and with at least one more week to go, it has been a pleasing task for Barrett.
“It is an opportunity to have that photo that they wouldn’t have had,” she said.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.