The Year Time Stopped: The Global Pandemic in Photos Talk at GWU Alumni with Christina Hawatmeh

One June 22, 2022, the GW community heard from alumna Christina Hawatmeh as she discussed her new book, The Year Time Stopped: The Global Pandemic in Photos. Learn about the journey to create the book and get some tips on how to navigate an idea through college to make it your business. See the original video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE71qnavqig Support the book on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Year-Time-Stopped-Global-Pandemic/dp/0063159511 See an article about The Year Time Stopped and Christina's journey here on GW Today: https://gwtoday.gwu.edu/alumna%E2%80%99s-startup-digital-photography-platform-opens-global-access Snippet By Nick Erickson July 2022 In 2010, Facebook was just four years old and—while it had 700 million users worldwide—nowhere near the behemoth it is today as there are nearly 3 billion accounts across the globe. Back then, teenagers flooded the relatively new platform with continued conversation from the school cafeteria or an angsty song lyric that represented their moods. Therefore, it was rather ambitious for Christina Hawatmeh, B.A. ’10, to write a thesis suggesting Facebook—and social media in general—could soon have significant global impact. Especially since she was an undergraduate at George Washington University taking a graduate level course pertaining to Islamic social movements. It turned out she was ahead of the curve. After graduating from GW in international affairs and Middle East studies while concentrating in international development, Hawathmeh’s startup company, Scop.io, has used social media to become the first photography non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace and first founded by women.  Launched nine years ago, Scop.io—short for Scope it Out— has made a platform where up to 15,000 images are submitted daily and more than a million to date uploaded. With more than 14,000 users in 190 countries who come to Scop.io every day to upload their work and get hired on their various creative skills. More than 25,000 businesses from the large corporations to the local mom and pop store, to the radio and tv stations download images from Scop.io and hire these artists for various projects including photography, and expanding into all visual creative work in 3D, illustration, NFT creation and more...