Caria Taylor, a member of Cass Tech High School’s Class of 2021, used the isolation of COVID as an opportunity to develop her hobbies: reading, writing, and photography.

When George Floyd was murdered, and racial justice protests swept across the country, she was out in the streets with her camera. Caria leaned on organizations such as Capturing Belief, a Detroit-based photography program, and the Detroit Youth Choir — groups that helped to develop her creative vision and voice long before the pandemic began.

After watching the Class of 2020 miss out on their proms and traditional graduation ceremonies, among other rites of passage, Caria and her class had the opportunity to attend those milestone events together. It was the first time she had seen many of her classmates since March 2020, and they managed to pick up just where they left off.

In these pictures and an original poem,