{"id":3094,"date":"2021-04-28T20:01:59","date_gmt":"2021-04-28T20:01:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vpms1.humber.smartmanagedservers.com\/convergencemag\/?p=3094"},"modified":"2022-07-20T20:37:22","modified_gmt":"2022-07-20T20:37:22","slug":"covid-through-a-different-lens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/covid-through-a-different-lens\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID Through a Different Lens"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
By Liliia Smichenko<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Matshona Dhliwayo, a Canadian-based philosopher said: \u201cA flower blooming in the desert proves to the world that adversity, no matter how great, can be overcome.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just like the flower in the desert, many artists were quietly blooming with ideas during the lockdown. Left on the sidelines, they were thinking how their craft could help, the same way doctors and nurses can. While self-isolating, some photographers managed to capture the loneliness, and anxiety of people around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just like that, Canadian photographer George Pimentel changed the focus of his lens from the celebrities and red carpets to empty streets and emotional moments. He, like so many, started to suffer from anxiety when all of the events and festivals were cancelled, leaving him with no job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the first lockdown, Pimentel learned that his wife\u2019s distant relative died from Spanish flu over 100 years ago. This discovery led to a Google deep dive, where the photographer found century-old photos of the last global pandemic. He saw a world in those black and white vintage images, where wearing masks and distancing was normal, a world so much like ours right now; and he decided he needed to capture it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want everyone to look at all these photos, 100 years later like I look at the Spanish flu photos, and we can learn from it,\u201d Pimentel says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The first thing he decided to capture was a moment he shared with his father when he visited him during the lockdown. Pimentel drove by his father\u2019s house and called him to see him, but he didn\u2019t leave the car to avoid endangering him. There they were, each on the other side of the glass window. Together but separated by a pane of glass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI gracefully put my hand beside each other and it was very emotional,\u201d Pimentel says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When he took a selfie of the heartfelt moment and posted it on Instagram it blew up. After that Pimentel decided to pick up his camera and find more stories to share.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photos by George Pimentel<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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This idea grew into another idea, to form an association called Canada COVID Portrait, a non-profit organization committed to documenting the impact of the pandemic on people\u2019s lives. People all around Canada started to submit their photos. Eventually, the organization exhibited the photos on the streets of Toronto, and for some, it was life-changing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pimentel was driving around the streets of Toronto when he saw a homeless man in a tent along the road asking for money. He approached the man and took a photo of him. The photo ended up being a part of the outdoor exhibition, where any passerby could see it. He later received a call from a man who saw the photo of the homeless man and said that the man in the photo was his long lost brother. They hadn\u2019t seen each other in 10 years. Just like that, one photo changed someone\u2019s life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe capture all the emotions of it and it\u2019s so important in a photo, it really speaks for itself. We tried to create truth,\u201d Pimentel says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photographers from other parts of Canada were also trying to make an impact on their community while searching for new ways of income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pat Kane, an Indigenous photographer from Yellowknife, NT. was thinking about ways to provide for his family when all of his jobs were cancelled. His wife jokingly suggested he should take pictures through the windows, keeping the social distance; and that\u2019s exactly what he did. What started as a joke was picked up by national and international media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thought it was a good way to have fun with it to still keep working, but also to tell a story about where I live,\u201d Kane says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photos by Pat Kane<\/em><\/strong>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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He posted the idea on Facebook and soon enough all the community wanted a doorway portrait. Kane says many people think the lockdown didn\u2019t have as much impact on his community because it\u2019s already isolated and far from everything. In reality, the community is very much connected and involved in social life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wanted to show that this thing of isolation and being alone is really weird to us, actually it\u2019s kind of strange,\u201d Kane says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kane\u2019s idea was a lifebuoy for many photographers who were left with no job in a blink of an eye. He inspired the Yukon-based photographer Alistair Maitland, who began doing door portraits when all of his gigs were cancelled. Maitland saw Kane\u2019s photos on Facebook and posted the idea on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere was an overwhelming desire on people\u2019s parts to participate, so I had to up my game in terms of organizing things,\u201d Maitland says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He says since most of the people were indoors and didn\u2019t have much going on, the photoshoot was the highlight of their day. One of the most memorable pictures he took during the lockdown was of his friend\u2019s mom and her partner. While taking the photo of the pair, he had to block the glare with his body making him part of the frame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was kind of cool because it was both a \u201cdoor-traits\u201d, a social isolation portrait, but also a self-portrait at the same time,\u201d Maitland says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photography became a source of creative release for people outside of the industry. Jason O\u2019Young, a family dentist from Wingham, Ontario, started to take pictures of the night sky and rural landscapes when his job was put on hold. He says photography was always just a hobby for him and when the pandemic hit, he would just go outside or stop while driving around to take a picture. In the summer, while everyone was inside on the lockdown, O\u2019Young was observing the comet NEOWISE in the Wingham night sky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecause of all the photos I\u2019ve taken, I started to look at the area differently and the things that I drive by and pass by. I start to think more about how they could be used in a photo,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photos by Jason O’Young.<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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O\u2019Young wasn\u2019t the only one to see his surroundings in new light during the lockdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ian Virtue was raising money for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) in Windsor and southwestern Ontario before the pandemic hit. All the fundraising events were cancelled and Virtue was left with no job. While looking for a new source of income, he started to take pictures of his hometown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy parents grew up in Windsor, their parents grew up in Windsor, their parents\u2019 parents grew up in Windsor. It\u2019s like this has been my family\u2019s home for a very long time and it\u2019s a place I\u2019ve never really wanted to explore,\u201d Virtue says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was capturing different areas of Windsor-Essex that he thought had the most history and character such as Walkerville, which used to a big distillery town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wanted to capture all these different areas in a way that they hadn\u2019t been captured before,\u201d Virtue says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Virtue hadn\u2019t done photography in a long time since he graduated, he says the creative process allowed him to grow and develop his skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an art therapist, Jesse Paju\u00e4\u00e4r says with all the stressors that COVID-19 brought into people\u2019s lives, people began to reassess what\u2019s important in their lives. \u201cCOVID has highlighted our unique abilities to adapt through our creativity in order to establish some semblance of order or feeling of control during uncertain times,\u201d he says. In his profession, he believes photography represents a language of the relationship between the photographer and a subject, with a unique ability to put the viewer into the photographer\u2019s shoes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think, photography during COVID represents an opportunity for us to explore what\u2019s the new vehicle of importance to us, and how we\u2019ve adapted to find value in all these relational shifts in our lives,\u201d Paju\u00e4\u00e4r says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Canadian photographer George Pimentel changed the focus of his lens from the celebrities and red carpets to empty streets and emotional moments. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Georgefatheronline-scaled.jpg",2560,1440,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Georgefatheronline-170x120.jpg",160,113,true],"medium":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Georgefatheronline-300x169.jpg",300,169,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Georgefatheronline-768x432.jpg",696,392,true],"large":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Georgefatheronline-1024x576.jpg",696,392,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Georgefatheronline-1536x864.jpg",1536,864,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Georgefatheronline-2048x1152.jpg",2048,1152,true],"td_150x0":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Georgefatheronline-scaled.jpg",150,84,false],"td_218x150":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Georgefatheronline-scaled.jpg",218,123,false],"td_300x0":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Georgefatheronline-scaled.jpg",300,169,false],"td_324x400":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Georgefatheronline-scaled.jpg",324,182,false],"td_485x360":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Georgefatheronline-scaled.jpg",485,273,false],"td_696x0":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Georgefatheronline-scaled.jpg",696,392,false],"td_1068x0":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Georgefatheronline-scaled.jpg",1068,601,false],"td_1920x0":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Georgefatheronline-scaled.jpg",1920,1080,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"convergencemag","author_link":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/author\/convergencemag\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Canadian photographer George Pimentel changed the focus of his lens from the celebrities and red carpets to empty streets and emotional moments.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3094"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3094"}],"version-history":[{"count":31,"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3094\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4198,"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3094\/revisions\/4198"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}