The story behind the image
Today I’d like to share with you the story of an image I made last summer, during the Covid-19 quarantine. It’s an image I called “Under the Covid-19 Dome” and one that was included in The Pandemic Archive Project.
So, here it goes:
I was out on the balcony, sipping my wine, awaiting the 7pm cheer for coronavirus first responders . The setting sunlight wrapped around the neighborhood, distorting its shadows. That’s how I noticed the reflections of the surrounding buildings stretched along the glass surface. Intrigued, I took a picture of those shapes and forms, without knowing how the final image would look like or what it would represent. I needed something else to complete the image.
At the time I was (still) working on my hand portrait series (which is still very much a work in progress), and thought to incorporate hands, somehow, in my image. That’s when the idea of a dome came to mind–being trapped under a Covid-19 dome, representing life during coronavirus pandemic, trying to escape from it, survive it or, perhaps, the Covid dome as a symbol of safety from the virus….
So, I turned my wine glass image upside down and added a self-portrait of my hands, like in the image below: [I talked more about the making and meaning of this image and other Corona-inspired and pandemic-inspired artwork as part of last summer’s virtual course, Making Meaning in a Pandemic .]
And there you have it, the story of how I made this image. I believe that it’s important, as photographers, as creatives and/or storytellers, to pay attention to details surrounding us, because sometimes it’s in details that we discover the seeds of potential stories or creative ideas.
As always, I hope this finds you safe and well, and, as always, thank you for stopping by!
Alina Oswald 