Facetime Sessions
These photos were taken in April and May of 2020 during a three week period in the beginning of the initial lockdown due to Covid-19. They were taken via Facetime as an attempt to document life during an uncertain time, and how it looked different to everyone. Although in some ways it felt like the world that we knew stopped, life in fact did continue on. Babies were born, students graduated, weddings rescheduled and ultimately - we collectively experienced something together. Scroll to the end of the photos to read words from some of these individuals.
“I went on a walk last week and saw all the bouganvillea blooming and smelled street tacos from across the street and listened to the doors on the almost-empty bus closing. I almost burst into tears. I love this city, I’m so proud to live here, and I can’t wait until we can hug and gather and re-emerge together.”
“I’ve written the girls letters to explain this time and what the world is like so they will know what they lived through someday.”
“Our wedding went from being 12 days away to 238. initially we said we wouldn’t cancel it until it was cancelled for us, but eventually our wedding wasn’t really ours anymore. Once we made the decision to postpone though, we felt lighter. we didn’t have to worry about our wedding in the midst of a pandemic, we just had to worry about the pandemic itself.”
“There’s a palpable heaviness in the world, and it’s a daily battle to fight the urge to get wrapped up in defeatist thoughts as we face an unprecedented moment in history.”
“I think all 2020 grads are lacking this closure that we need to move on. It’s like reading a book and the last three pages of a chapter are missing but you have to move on to the next chapter but now you have no idea what’s going on. It’s disorienting.”
“I wash my hands so much that at the end of a shift the skin hurts. I put my work clothes in the washing machine as soon as I walk into my apartment, wipe down or spray everything I’ve touched with alcohol, and shower before I interact with my son. Most days we both wear masks to interact with each other.”
“I haven’t hugged anyone in 60 days.”
“I am learning that I am resilient.”
“My days usually start later than I’d planned and end later than I’d planned but somewhere in the middle of those small failures I try to be at least a little productive.”
“The doctor said to me “there’s no good time to lose a baby, but doing it when you have to be alone is exponentially cruel.” Grief in isolation is a strange sort of horrible – even the minor comforts of the outside world are not accessible.”
“Thankfully, my quiet little house and the beings inside it receive me with sweet compassion. The outside world has been harsh and heart-breaking. Our trio is my solace.”
“I think having a newborn is always kind of a mini quarantine, but the isolation of this period has made it especially tough and also brought out a lot of resilience in us both. The night she came home my parents came to meet her through the back porch window and we all just sobbed. There was so much joy and grief and longing.”
“During a recent walk I watched someone get carted out of their house on a stretcher and into an ambulance, their masked family just sitting on the curb. The pain and loss that this virus is inflicting feels like its so far away yet simultaneously right at my doorstep.”
“The fact that we have been given a chance to start off on equal footing as parents has been both inexplicable and wonderful. We’ve laughed, we cried, but most of all we’ve loved!”
“This time is showing me that there isn’t harder, there is just hard.”
“I find myself seething at incompetent leadership and the deep cancer that fear and ignorance have wrought in our country — but then, miraculously, a moment later, I’ll be surprised by people’s depth, warmth, and willingness to grow and help their neighbor out.”
“This quarantine has also shed light on all of the self work I’ve done the last few years. Because without that I think I’d be more of a nervous/anxious wreck right now.”
“I don’t find peace every day, but I’m trying to practice it. That’s all the universe ever asks of us. Just to be, flaws and all.”
“I’m taking it all hour by hour. I tried week to week, then day to day, and now it feels like I can only get by hour to hour.”
“The universe laughed at my plans of being a butterfly emerging from its cocoon. Stay in your cocoon, it said. You’re not ready yet. So, here I remain.”
“My fiery burn was put out this month. I’ve had my pity party. I’ve drank too much wine. I’ve slept way too much. There has been no spontaneity. No adventure. No adrenaline. No enthusiasm. No motivation. No joy aside from Joe Exotic and Carol Baskin. So naturally I needed to create my own.”
“All the biggest lessons I’ve learned in my life have not coming easy, they’ve dragged me kicking and screaming and forced me to learn. This time it’s a pandemic that has become my masterclass in gentleness.”
“Quarantine has been a paring down of what filled our lives before. I feel as if my priorities have been distilled. I now see clearly what matters most – family, connection, nature, joy, presence.”