Pandemic Progress
I have really, well and truly, despised the pandemic. I am an outgoing, affectionate, travel-loving, novelty-seeking, germophobic, urban artist with an intense social consciousness. Very many aspects of my personality were poorly suited for managing this miserable situation well. The unimaginable toll of lives the virus has taken worldwide, and the constant specter of grave illness and death hanging over those of us who have survived, have been cataclysmic. The wretched isolation, so necessary to keep as many of us as possible healthy, has been emotionally desolating.
As much as I have deplored the compulsive slowdown of my previous continually on-the-go, rat-racing, Bay Bridge-commuting lifestyle, being forced to stay home has been positive for my art. I have been fortunate to be able to work throughout the pandemic, from the safety of my home. As much as I have been frustrated by not being able to go much of anywhere other than within the house and yard (other than short bike rides and walks on nearby minor streets), conducting both my work and my social lives entirely through computers has meant that I haven't needed to spend any time transporting myself anywhere other than within the house and yard. The extra time has been enormously artistically beneficial. It is also possible that the emotional difficulties imposed by the pandemic have driven me to a more creative place.
Having my choice of subjects narrowed to those that were readily available at home absolutely pushed my photography in new directions. I have always focused on landscapes rather than portraits, and landscapes were mostly unavailable to me. It's hard to shoot a landscape on a flat, 40 x 130-foot lot. As a skilled and experienced macro photographer, I found some solace in abstracting close-ups of my plants. I had spent two decades creating a lovely garden with a wide variety of succulents so that I could have some handy subjects right at home, not ever having had the idea that I might spend a year with these as my only available subjects. Being trapped in the same place continually afforded me the opportunity to perfect particular shots, trying again every day until I achieved just the effect I sought, and to observe the optimum lighting for each shot.
There has been light even in this darkness. While the pandemic has been good for my art, my art has also been good for me in the pandemic. I needed to make art, more than ever, just to survive.