They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. So when I saw my good friend, Paul Gero’s images of families dealing with their isolation in the time of the Corona virus, I knew he was onto something. Naturally, having seen my business drop to basically zero overnight got the old creative juices flowing, whether out of inspiration or necessity, but I felt compelled to get out and shoot. My wife suggested photographing the now empty spaces (think golf courses, beaches, oceans, grocery stores, etc) that we are so accustomed to seeing teeming with life and activity, but I felt my own take on the experience of “hunkering down” would be more interesting and relate-able to when juxtaposed with the work I usually create.
I decided to reach out to friends and ask for maybe five minutes of their time to show me, smack in the middle of what will likely be the most singular historic event in our lives, who they were, where they were, what they wore, and who they were with, during the COVID-19 pandemic. I love to project 20-30 years ahead and think how my kids (or my client’s kids) will appreciate the images that I have produced. I TRULY think we will look back on this moment and these photos as capturing a momentous period in our lives.
From an artistic perspective, I wanted to be as hands off as I could be. I asked my friends who agreed to be photographed to wear EXACTLY what they had throughout the first week of their isolation. No extra makeup. No fancy clothes. Show me who you are, right now. Show me who you’re with and how you are getting along. In terms of lighting, I wanted it to reflect the un-reality, the surreal-ness, of this moment. I wanted to capture the feeling I have each and every morning waking up and thinking to myself, “holy cr@p, this isn’t a dream”. It’s just bizarre and weird, and nothing I ever thought I’d live through. But here we are. While I normally blur the background to bring the focus strictly to the subject, here I think the location tells a huge part of the story. As such, I eschewed my long lenses and wide apertures for the deep f-stops and wide lenses. Retouching is also noticeably absent (trust me, looking at my own portrait here, that was a tough nut to swallow). I just wanted something present and real.
Each session took no more than maybe five minutes. All social distancing recommendations were respected. I decided from the start not to “pose” anyone in the way that I might with a normal, paying, family portrait. I let my friends decide for themselves how they wanted to present. And, while I have the sinking feeling this is VERY early in what I know will be a struggle for many weeks, if not months, ALL of my subjects fell somewhere between happy and downright joyous. I was initially thinking this might be my Covid version of the Dust Bowl portraits of the 1930s. Perhaps I’ll feel differently after weeks or months of this, but for now, I’m optimistic that most of us will make lemonade from these lemons and become closer as families and communities.
Enjoy the images. I hope I’ve overblown the significance of this moment and in no time we’re back into our old lives. I hope. But if not, I hope those who opened up to me in this time of crisis will be glad they did someday. More to come.
Project Update: Having now shot over 20 of these, I came to the realization that the name Time Capsule Portraits is a much more appropriate name. Pandemic Portraits was too negative. Everyone so far has had SUCH positive attitudes that, for now at least, Time Capsule Portraits just fits way better.
