“When she greeted me without a smile, I knew right away she was my kind of lady. A deadend dirt road lined by overgrown cacti. A donkey named Dilbert, snacking on burnt Texas grass. Ceramics supplies stretching 5 acres, planted in the ground like tombstones, weathered and forgotten. When the quarantine began, I had no idea I’d end up meeting Glenda, my new 78-year-old friend, or that her home would become my refuge in the chaos of a pandemic banging down my door. I bring her brisket sandwiches and she brings me endless joy. Pottery lessons and walks through overgrown wildflower fields, the perfect escape from the noise of normalcy, lost.”
I bring her brisket sandwiches and she brings me endless joy.
“I, like all of us, have good days and bad. It's a lot to manage two small children in this time and support their needs alone. These photos were made after a trip to the market, when my four-year-old said, 'mom, look at those flowers — they look like suns.' So we bought them. The next morning we were up very early and brought the tulips outside, where we made these images. They feel hopeful to me.”
Mom, look at those flowers — they look like suns.
“This virus has taught me unshakeable lessons. The first weeks of Covid blanketed my world like a thick fog. I felt like I was driving a car with my eyes closed. Grocery shelves were depleted.
Over the coming weeks, the local farm became my haven both creatively and spiritually. Their small business model shifted gears quickly, creating a CSA pickup which has since distributed over four thousand boxes of fresh produce to our community!
I have experienced a mix of emotions in quarantine — both inspired and clearer than ever on the importance of living locally. This photo of Amanda captures the solitude of the moment: a distance and simultaneous connectivity that embodies these times.”
A distance and simultaneous connectivity that embodies these times.
“This pandemic has taught me to make space for a constant paradox in myself. There is fear for the wellbeing of others alongside immense gratitude for my own life and safety. There is boiling rage over the imbalance and injustice showing up throughout the world, existing with intense gentleness toward myself and my loved ones as we navigate this. There is frustration over a lack of individual productivity, but an overwhelming pride for having faced the shadows while keeping a face toward the window. The contradiction keeps us all human, and I've never felt more human than in this strange moment in time.”
I've never felt more human than in this strange moment in time.
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