I hope everyone is doing well! The last two weeks have been a lot. I was in Puerto Rico co-leading an Alternative Spring Break when I found out that Bowdoin was moving to remote learning. It was difficult to have to lead a group of mostly First-Years and Sophomores while also dealing with my emotions and challenges. I am now in my home in Houston trying to make the most out of a difficult situation. It has been a week since Houston started its shelter in place order, and I have noticed that small businesses in my community have been negatively impacted as well as people who are a part of the informal economy. My sister works at a middle school, and I have seen how her school is preparing to start online classes. This has made me think about how children are impacted by the schools shutting down. To help me cope with everything, I have been biking around my neighborhood and journaling. This has allowed me to stop and observe the things around me and given me time to think about how I am doing.
Hey Ray! I think your pictures capture daily life in a way that is haunting especially your last photo with the swings tied up. I think the straightforward shooting works in this case and gives us the impression that you are documenting moments. You can tell these photos were meant to capture the moment and convey how this situation is dire, I think using these photos to contrast your photos of the wasp and the flower works. Our environment has changed a lot with people staying home so it works among your other photos. I think your pictures from the day versus the pictures you took in the night compliment each other and shows how empty the streets are while your daytime pictures show the presence of humanity still.
Hey! I really enjoyed seeing your pictures from the last couple weeks since we’ve all been off campus. I like the variety of colors in all of your images and thoughtful composition even if they were just snapshots of daily life. I agree that the contrast between the day and night shots is really interesting as it adds layers to the emptiness of the streets in these times. I also really love the picture of the wasp because it shows this irony of a really beautiful look of the photo with a somewhat threatening or dangerous subject. The last photo also jumped out to me as it makes the viewer want to know more and could almost be a photograph representation of what’s going in the world right now. I also agree that this is a great time to journal and really stop and think about what everything around you means to you. I look forward to seeing more of your photos!