A Photographer’s Visual Poem about Solidarity and Protest

It feels impossible to reduce the events of 2020 to one theme. It’s COVID-19. It’s the death of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Ahmaud Arbery, and so many other Black Americans. In the U.S., it’s a cultural reckoning with our own racist histories—and our need to do better. It’s the economic crisis. It’s a presidential election of existential proportions. And it’s the unavoidable sense that these experiences are inextricably linked.

In 2016, Yu-Chen Chiu began a long-term project, America Seen, which she describes as a “visual poem about the social landscape of the U.S. during the Trump administration.” Examining the country’s tumultuous social and political moment, the series explores the varied nature of America. Now, a new series, Separated, Together (2020), serves as a continuation of that project.

Weaving together three main experiences—society under COVID-19, protests in response to the murder of George Floyd and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, and a modern reassessment of historical monuments—Chiu examines not only the new chapter the U.S. faces today, but also the ways historical narratives shape our future. “Many things got magnified during the pandemic and social movements this year. I never imagined to see this kind of America, everything is surreal,” Chiu said recently. “I feel the responsibility as a photographer to capture what’s going on at the moment.”

Born and raised in Taiwan, Chiu moved to the United States to pursue her master’s degree in 2003, going on to become a permanent resident in 2015. After earning a degree in English literature from Chinese Culture University in Taipei, she studied film production and new media at New York University and photography at Cooper Union and the International Center of Photography. Working in the documentary genre, Chiu’s experience as an immigrant for half her life has become a foundational part of her photographic practice. “I am always drawn to the notion of identity and belonging,” Chiu says. “I use my own experience as a starting point to take photographs.”

Most of the photographs from Separated, Together come from Chiu’s daily observations of her surroundings in Brooklyn, where she is now based. Like for many people adjusting to life under quarantine, taking walks became a permanent fixture in her routine. Bringing her camera along, Chiu allowed an intuitive process to guide her exploration—capturing moments that arouse her curiosity, from sights she had never seen before to moments of extreme mundanity. “Photography is about experiencing and observing life to understand myself and my relationship with the environment,” Chiu explains. “Instead of forcing something to happen, I take my time to blend myself into the situation and circumstances that come to me.”

Throughout all of Chiu’s black-and-white photographs is a subdued, contemplative atmosphere. At times, there is an overwhelming stillness, which extends into her accompanying video pieces (the only components of the series in color). Although the reality Chiu captures is familiar, viewing these works gives a similar sensation to flashes from a dream or memory. Fog overtakes a surreally empty Brooklyn Bridge. A trio of children, almost completely lost within the frame, peek out the window from behind protective bars. Chalk squares indicating social-distancing guides are spread across a concrete courtyard—a sight that would have been almost incomprehensible a year ago, but is immediately recognizable today. A candlelit sign reading “Vigil 4 Martyrs of the George Floyd Rebellion” sits quietly at the center of a frame, illuminating the dark background.

In one frame, posters of Black men, women, and children who have been killed are displayed across a fence, a dried bouquet between them. In another, the news splashes across a TV screen, floating in a darkened room. Signs of the pandemic become, at once, both messages of separation and reassurances of solidarity. The American flag, in particular, is a recurring symbol throughout the series: from a sweeping field of them at a 9/11 tribute in Stanford, New York; to those held during protests with the words “Black Lives Matter” written across them; to flags ominously standing next to a “Trump 2020” sign in an empty field.

Among Chiu’s ruminations on the present, she introduces images of historical monuments and memorials, particularly those associated with racial injustice. Chiu’s goal was to examine the ways these monuments exist in our public space, as well as how our ever-changing perspective of history alters these monuments’ meaning. “Our definition of ‘greatness’ changes by our eras. I intentionally wanted to document monuments of figures such as Columbus, Robert E. Lee, George Washington, whose achievements are being redefined today,” Chiu states. “It was important to use these images to act as a pause, a reflection on the pandemic and protests. To me, they are all related concepts of solidarity, freedom, and patriotism.”

Chiu’s photographs do not seek to provide any answers or solutions to the crises we face today. In a time of social distancing, when many of us are more separated than ever, Separated, Together instead offers a poetic rumination on our collective experiences. “I hope this can be a catalyst to let us rethink what’s happening now and continue the conversation,” she says. “I see my work as a remedy for these unsettling times.”