Photography in the time of Covid-19

Like much of the world, I have been feeling a lot of melancholy and trepidation with the current Covid-19 situation. NPR had a good article that discussed this. In essence, we’re all grieving, whether we know it or not. As the article points out, this grief can be driven by a number of factors, some surprisingly small. Something as simple as the loss of the daily commute to work can affect us.

Among all the greater concerns going through my mind — the safety and well-being of those I care about, worries about the economic fallout from the situation, longing to see my family and friends in person, etc. — I am finding that I’m missing the simple things, too. I *do* miss my commute as odd as that seems. The drive home in the evening, especially. Generally, I try to get to work as quickly and efficiently as possible in the morning. But I will often take a longer, slower drive home that allows me opportunities like driving along the busy railroad between work and home and watching a couple of trains go by. And I really miss weekend ambles with my camera.

I will admit that I have not been as photographically prolific lately as I was a decade ago. Still, my time out and about with a camera has always been part and parcel of who I am. Weekend drives with only the roughest of destinations often led to memorable images of places that have rarely if ever had a serious photograph taken of them. I miss those drives.

In the spirit of sticking to Illinois’ shelter in place order, I am passing up most of those kinds of opportunities. On the one hand, it is easy to say that a drive in the country to some forgotten old grain elevator would not put me anywhere near 600′ of another living soul, let alone the 6′ recommendation for social distancing. On the other hand, though, it’s easy to see how that might not be absolutely true. What happens when I need to get gas? Take a bathroom break? What if I were to get into a car accident and put a further strain on an already strained hospital? When one starts pondering the possibilities, it becomes apparent that the responsible thing to do would be to simply stay at home and ride this out for the weeks or months that we will need to until the situation improves enough that some sense of normalcy can resume.

A myriad of photographic websites have posted ideas for shutterbugs stuck at home. Thus far, I have resisted those as I was seeing them as trite and cliche answers for stuck at home photographers. However, after both reading the NPR article linked above and actually picking up my cameras this past week, I have changed my thinking a little bit.

Maybe shots taken off the balcony of foggy conditions or of a squirrel in a tree are not terribly inspired. Maybe trying out the old macro photography of things around the house while stuck at home might seem trite and cliche. Maybe I’ll never take a sheltered in place photo that will make it into my portfolio. Those are not the important points. What is important is actively engaging myself in something that I enjoy. The simple act of looking through a viewfinder, composing a shot and pressing a shutter button is cathartic for me, even if the results are not the greatest photos I will ever produce.

Additionally, I think that there is an element of confirmation bias to my position that projects like stuck at home macro photography are trite and cliche. As always, the ever inspiring Thomas Heaton has proved that need not be the case with a YouTube video that is both humorous and inspiring. Perhaps it’s time to shake off a bit of the melancholy, engage in something that brings me join and investigate whether there are opportunities for me to be creative and make something aesthetically appealing. Watch this space in the coming weeks for updates on my success or lack thereof…