Letter from the Photo Editor

My intent for the cover of Volume 9 was to make space to acknowledge the overwhelming loss, pain, and isolation of this year, and the regeneration and discovery that have come out of that time. In March, I made photographs of my body to examine how growing up in a digital age has shaped me literally and figuratively, and in conscious and unconscious ways. A few weeks into that work, everything moved online, and I could no longer discuss my progress with my peers and professor in person. Finishing a project so intimate and human in a virtual format felt like a tug-of-war between my curated internet persona and raw, physical self. Sitting with that uncomfortable intimacy and the accompanying dissociation was the catalyst for this cover project.

Over the summer, I stopped feeling like time existed in its same linear space. My relationship with reality fragmented further as I spent more and more of my days staring at screens, and the absence of human interaction was replaced with a constant, claustrophobic realization. I had naively allowed the false sense of security provided by my online presence to influence my understanding of myself and the world for nearly my entire life. I was staring into a reflection of myself I did not recognize and had perhaps never truly known. This cover is representative of that tension and urge to break away, and the solace to be found in collectively experiencing aloneness and transformation.

The photo at the center of the front cover is one from my March endeavor, and surrounding it is a myriad of imagery from other projects, in addition to text and symbols indicative of a Zoom-dominated year. I am incredibly thankful for my assistant, Madi Tarbox, for her patience and expertise in giving life to these feelings, as well as the rest of the Fools visual team.

Gabby Estlund