Photography and Coronavirus: a brief reflection
Katalin Száraz - Untitled, from the series Phases, 2021
Written by Angelica Cantù Rajnoldi
Edited by Jana Massoud
Two years have passed since the Coronavirus started to spread all around the globe. Some people would even say it has only been one year, while others would claim three. During this simultaneously long and short time frame of lockdown, most of us experienced a severe distortion of time. There were no Mondays, Fridays, or Sundays. Indeed, according to a survey conducted by Dr. Ruth Ogden, a Reader in Experimental Psychology, in the UK over 80 per cent of people reported time was not passing normally during the pandemic. Some people felt time speed up while others felt it slow down.
Jessica Soffiati and Gian Luca Mazza - Untitled, from the series Repeating Pattern
It was so impressive to experience the present as surreal at times and suffocating at others. Since we were cemented in our homes for a long time, the ‘sameness’ of our daily lives became redundant and difficult to deal with. In retracing this feeling of stillness, I am amazed at how relevant photography has been during this difficult period. Not only has it helped us to obtain a real depiction of what was happening on the outside, it has also re-emerged as a notable instrument for the study of ourselves, our feelings and thoughts, our desires, and our deeper intimacy, all of which we often don’t have time to contemplate in the rush and crush of modern life.
Katalin Száraz used photography in order to give concrete documentation of her days, emotions, and illusions. In her series Phases, we see details of the domestic environment alternating with the wonderland created by her imagination in reaction to the unvariedness of her walls.
Untitled, from the series Breathing Zone
Breathing Zone, the series by Gionatan Tecle, examines in depth the idea of social distancing as a necessity in both private and public space; we become spectators of the physical and emotional detachment that make us remember the amounts of moments we spent in silence while the light coming from the outside was reminding us we were still alive. However, Jessica Soffiati and Gian Luca Mazza with Repeating Pattern reveal a different, ironic, simple yet not obvious interpretation of the repetitive environment and the human body.
This project, and many others like it made during the two lockdowns, gave me hope because they pushed me towards the realization that photography, that intuitive instruments, always accompany us, even in the worst moments, sometimes making us see the world differently.
