Final Final Project
The worldwide COVID-19 outbreak of 2020 has turned everything on its head. Schools have closed, events have been cancelled, people across the globe are advised to stay in their houses and not visit others unless you are 6 feet apart. This is the new normal, at least for a while. It’s a strange time for everyone and with this project I aimed to collect those thoughts and feelings of individuals as we all stumble through this new world we are living in. Instead of the tradition portrait of a person where it is a basic head and shoulders shot, I stepped back, way back, to emphasize the distance we must have between one another during these times. I ask each participant to give me a few sentences or more of their thoughts, their feelings, and any anxieties they have about COVID-19 and its effects on the world and their own personal lives. These statements are presented below each group of portraits, and include the participants name and age.
“I personally hate this whole situation and want it to be over. I don’t really care a whole lot of how it started, I really just want to be able to go back to work and feel normal again. I’m incredibly bored and falling into depressive funks with no consistent human contact.” – Samuel, 20
“The whole Covid thing has been 50/50 for me. For one, having to not go to school makes it easier for me to be on my own schedule, but I also kind of miss everyone. Another thing about being in 8th grade is that I’m going to miss my 8th grade graduation and dance, it may not be as cool as being a senior, and going to prom and graduating, but it’s still something you can only experience once. At home nothing much has changed, I still go on runs, I still play baseball (but only with my sister), and I still go to the store. Overall, Covid isn’t effecting me in a bad way necessarily, but I know it’s having bad effects on other people, which makes me scared that this will not be over for a long time, and it also makes me scared that I’m going to maybe get sick.” – Austin, 13
“It sucks. I understand why things need to be like this. I don’t want to put the vulnerable in danger. But I need to roam, I need some sunlight and fresh air. I cant stand being stuck in one room for months. I just want to go outside and hold some frogs.” – Jordan, 21
“The quarantine has been rough on everyone. The only saving grace in having discord and video games to play with friends in lieu of real social interaction… and alcohol.” – Collin, 23
“Corona has been very difficult for me in a multitude of ways, I lack important aspects of on campus assistance from professors, I’ve had an incredibly difficult time coordinating with peers and friends, and the ever impending doom of online finals still fast approaches. However, I also feel a sense of calm, and happiness. I hear of stories from across the world of improving environmental conditions, small they may be in comparison to the grand scheme. For example, for the first time in decades, people in India are able to see the Himalayan Mountains. Dolphins are traveling through the canals of Italy, and Los Angeles somehow had the cleanest air of populated areas as of April. I end up feeling that this will lead to a huge shift in how we operate and might even lead to some good environmentally, but I could be dead wrong on that as well. Either way, I really would like to get out of the house again and I’ll definitely be doing less driving to get from place to place. For now though, I will continue to dwell in blanket forts and pencil shavings as I wait for this to eventually pass, hopefully.” – Jacob, 21
“Covid in general has been hard for me to deal with. I’ve been struggling with my own mental health lately since I went through a breakup as soon as the isolation started. I know social distancing is necessary but it’s so hard for me to not be able to reach out to my friends for help or to be able to go out and meet new people. I wish more people would just stay inside so we could leave sooner, but people are perpetually frustrated with the lockdown so they just keep going out and getting others sick. I hope this ends soon somehow, even though that seems like wishful thinking at this point.” – Keely, 20
Doc Methods SP2020 