The 2022 Where Are We Now Exhibition
Two years ago, we began a new reality–a reality of living with uncertainty, of wearing masks and staying at home. Those early days of the pandemic were at once frightening and life changing as we began to re-evaulate our lives, now limited and constrained. and considered new ways of making work. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. The announcement followed a rising sense of alarm over a new, potentially lethal virus that was swiftly spreading around the world.
On March 12th, 2020, I was reviewing portfolios for FotoFest in Houston, an event that immediately followed the SPE National conference, also in Houston–both events were attended by hundreds of photographers. At SPE, we hugged old friends, shared beers and conversation and didn’t question what was ahead. Literally 4 days later, we began to pull away each other at FotoFest—none of us had masks or gloves and we were panicked about the future, just wanting to be home.
A week later, I posted a call for The 2020 Self-Quaranting Exhibition, which ran on April 1,2020. I was totally amazed by how many artists were already hard at work about this new reality. I was so proud of this exhibition, which I think may have been the first official showcase of pandemic work.
Today, two years later, we feature the 2022 Where Are We Now Exhibition. Interestingly, the work submitted echos work from two years ago as we still exist in a state of limbo, now with the global crisis of Ukraine. Thank you to all who submitted and thank you to this remarkable community that has provided so much support to so many during this time.
My father is now living in an aged care facility. In January 2022, he tested positive to covid 19. He spent his 90th birthday in red lockdown with no one from his family able to see him. In this image taken during Easter 2021, he is at the threshold of his family home about to spend time with us all. I don’t know if he will ever return to his home again.
Posts on Lenscratch may not be reproduced without the permission of the Lenscratch staff and the photographer.
Recommended
-
Intimations on Kat Davis’ ExcerptsSeptember 15th, 2024
-
The MOTHER ExhibitionMay 12th, 2024
-
The Favorite Photograph You Took in 2023 ExhibitionJanuary 1st, 2024
-
The 2023 LOVE ExhibitionFebruary 14th, 2023
-
The Favorite Photograph You Took in 2022 ExhibitionJanuary 1st, 2023