Written by Taraneh Niakan

Photographers around the world showcase their experiences of motherhood in quarantine.

Being a mother during the COVID-19 pandemic merits a new level of expertise. The shelter-in-place redefines the parent-child relationship without the typical routine of school, playdates, and sports. The quarantine can be taken as a tender chance for mothers to develop their bonds with their children. A photographer in Turkey describes how she’s been spending time with her kids doing crafts, baking, and enjoying the communal garden. Her photo shows her young child with eyes squinted up at the sun, holding onto a flower- a moment, frozen, in the joyful enthrallment of being a child.

Photography in Taipei, Taiwan has not slowed down one bit.

In Taiwan, only a little over 100 miles from the coast of China, there have been only 440 cases and six deaths caused by coronavirus. Life has continued as usual compared to the rest of the world with little restrictions and lockdowns. There are still regular temperature checks, and most people are wearing masks. Street photographers in Taiwan are doing what street photographers around the world are itching to do- take pictures. In recent photos of vibrant Taipei life, we see the booming energy of children playing and families going about their regular routine. This refreshing glimpse helps the rest of the world hold tight and hope for a brighter future.

COVID-19 has pushed everyone out of their element, photographers included.

The internet, providing much of our entertainment now, showcases photographers that are taking pictures of still-lifes, empty streets, and themselves. There are photographers in New York capturing cabin-fevered individuals doing exercises, dances, and various bizarre activities on rooftops. Others are capturing moments from their windows, right out of a scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s voyeuristic 1954 film, Rear-Window. LA-based photographer, Caroline White was commissioned to take pictures from her window. From afar, she takes portraits of her neighbors in the Echo Park neighborhood in LA. In some heartwarming, yet still voyeuristic photos, she captures a man gazing dreamily out of the window and a woman holding her cat.

Photo by Sunyu on Unsplash — Photo by Sunyu on Unsplash

How do you photograph “peace”? The Global Peace Award, previously known as the Alfred Fried Photography Award, is accepting submissions.

Submissions are open with a deadline of May 24th. This award “recognizes and promotes photographers from all over the world whose pictures capture human efforts towards a peaceful world and the quest for beauty and goodness in our lives.” The change of the name honors the Nobel Prize in 1911 that was jointly awarded to Alfred Fried and Tobias Asser. Alfred Fried was a writer of influential literature that was regarded as “the most efficient periodical of the Pacifist movement in the world.” Call for entries: https://www.friedaward.com/global-peace-photo-award

Wolfgang Staehle, Art Is Lost in This Town (1989). Photo courtesy of Postmasters Gallery. — Wolfgang Staehle, *Art Is Lost in This Town* (1989). Photo courtesy of Postmasters Gallery.

Magda Sawon, co-founder of Postmasters, the well-known gallery in Lower Mahattan that opened in 1984, speaks on the struggles of COVID-19.

Despite the setbacks the art world faces at times like these, she’s confident that “art is needed, and art will rise.” Postmasters made it through the Great Recession and Hurricane Sandy, though what the gallery and art at large face today is far more challenging. Sawon, in a reassuring article for Artnet.com, explains how she believes the gallery culture will be revitalized after this odd period of virtual galleries and social isolation. She is eager for reopening and writes, “people starving for non-virtual encounters will come.” Read her article at:

https://news.artnet.com/opinion/magda-sawon-postmasters-op-ed-1845471.