VOICES

Since schools have been closed and after the isolation between families and others started because of the 2019 coronavirus pandemic, my family and I have spent most of our days in our 2-room apartment. We are spending days doing the same routines. This collection of photographic work shows what has become my community during the pandemic. This photo essay displays how my family has come together to be a community but is contained behind and inside my home.  During this pandemic this new community is represented by the things that we use every day - such as what we tended to eat everyday and how that has become a habit. Throughout this pandemic we’ve been trying to do new things to break up the routine and to stay healthy and keep the mood of the house lighter than dark and lonely. I have taken pictures of us painting and changing things in our home since our families are having to spend more family time. We have been using this time to reflect on our relationships and eat together and do the things that we have not done in a very long time. Just catching those moments means a lot. Doing things for others was important even in these hard times. In this photo essay, I took pictures of my grandmother when she had symptoms of the virus and then when her test came out negative. Going through these moments and actually helping her feel better, like doing her hair even if we risked getting the disease shows how we were there for each other during this time. These photos show the unity of our family and isolation that we sometimes have between us. During the three months in quarantine we have learned to grow and come together as a family instead of individuals.