I took my first COVID-19-related photo on March 9 when Smith College closed the Spring Bulb Show. It feels like ages ago. Last week, I was talking to Ute Schmidt, a chaplain at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, arranging a time and place to take a picture of her for our series on health care workers, “From the Front Lines.” Our conversation shifted to “the new normal.” We talked about the idea of the big stories and headlines — but what is harder to grasp are all the subtle ways we as humans are and are not adjusting to our new lives of seclusion.
What am I noticing? People in our area, for the most part, have accepted what standing 6 feet apart means; they are wearing masks and finding new ways to keep in touch, without touching. When I’m driving around and I see a potential photo, I now pull over and then sit and try to figure out if I can make it happen. Can I get close enough to capture what caught my attention? Is the person outside? How old are they, and could my entering their space be a risk?
Sometimes I can get the shot, as I did with Shane Coe, sitting on the steps of the First Churches of Northampton. He caught my eye because he looked like I felt that day. After taking his photo, I walked up slowly and asked if he was OK? “Yes,” he said and thanked me for asking. Other times, I know the photo I see I can’t get, and I drive on thinking there is another view up ahead.
Often what I leave with, though, is the thought of all the moments I can’t see, the stories hidden behind closed doors I can’t get to, the people struggling with or adjusting to our new normal. All I can do is wait and watch, but I am thinking of you all.