Mad River Valley-based photographer Barrie Fisher launched the “Awakening Love” project in early April as her personal journey to document coronavirus effects on her community. As Fisher took refuge in nature walks with her dog, Teak, she saw other neighbors outside doing the same. Fisher began documenting the dogs with her long-lens camera in their natural environments — on their farms, by the Mad River and in fields. Fisher’s project communicates the joy of the family dog.
Fast forward to May, when Fisher began thinking about the Class of 2020 high school seniors, whose senior spring year has been canceled because of COVID-19. Fisher’s next phase of her “Awakening Love” project is to honor her community of high school seniors who are graduating from Harwood Union High School, Green Mountain Valley School and a handful of New England prep schools.
“I have been feeling and thinking about the seniors in the Class of 2020. They have lost their senior year spring. I reflect back to the time when I was a senior. . . I want to do what I can to bring them love and joy.”
Fisher invites all Mad River Valley high school seniors to join her for an outdoor photography experience that will take place over two days in the parking lot at Big Picture Theater in Waitsfield, where she will have a photo studio set up. Students will arrive and wait in their car (or in person) for their opportunity to have a short (5- to 10-minute) photo session. Students will arrive to the photo studio wearing a mask and carrying any other item of meaning to incorporate into the photo session. Fisher will ask students to remove masks during the shoot. Photos will be taken on a first-come, first-served basis on Thursday, May 21, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Friday, May 22, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. She aims to capture the ever-changing emotions experienced by this year’s graduating class.
Each student will receive low-resolution (social media-sized) black and white images, and all images will go into a gallery made available to all students that were photographed, for all to see and download. High-resolution images will be available for purchase if desired.
Mad River Valley-based high school seniors may sign up for the “Awakening Love Project: High School Seniors 2020” by emailing
For more information on the “Awakening Love” project: Facebook.com/bfisherphoto
