Bringing the Outside, Inside
By Meredith Williams
The 2020 COVID 19 Quarantine. It has affected people's lives in numerous ways. From big corporate companies being moved to home offices. Beaches, parks, bars, and small businesses being closed down. Not being able to see loved ones, and staying inside every single day… It can be detrimental to people who have a set routine to combat mental illness; I am one of them. Personally being stuck inside has led to a huge increase in lack of motivation and not feeling quite myself. I want to be outside working with my team, taking photos, and seeing my friends and peers at San Jose State. However, I can’t do that. Even if everything was open I can’t risk my grandmother/roommate contracting the virus. She is perfectly healthy but if anything did happen to her I would be shattered.
Right now there are protests all over the world rising up about how people can’t go outside and enjoy the things they love. They are using the phrase “My Body My Choice” about being able to freely go outside without government interference. What they fail to realize is that going out when we don’t even have a vaccine let alone a cure for COVID isn’t a smart idea. Some are complaining that since they are in a small town and don’t have any cases, it shouldn’t affect them. They fail to realize that it takes one person from out of town, who is a carrier, to stop in and touch anything and then that town can be overrun with the virus. I want people who think this way to look at my photos and be inspired to just hang in there a little longer and that one day this will all just be a memory.
I made this series to show that even though you can’t do a lot of things right now you still can do them from home. I know I have a limitation of these activities just being photos, but I hope it inspires people to get creative while staying at home while also lifting the spirits of others who may feel down and out because of a disrupted routine or not being able to do the things they love. I also wanted to show that people my age do have the self-restraint to stay inside. After the whole Spring Break debacle, I felt ashamed that people my age thought that were invincible and could still party. Don’t get me wrong I like to party, but there is a time and place from everything. I want to make every photo 16 x 20 to make it feel like it’s a snapshot I took when I went out hiking or when my partner got a haircut for the first time in years. I also made these semi self-portraits because I wanted to show that being by yourself is ok.
To me, photography is all about immortalizing important memories and being able to look back on them and remember the good times. Some memories I made during this shoot was realizing that cardboard is a very versatile art supply, my grandmother won't freak out over the couch being tipped upwards for a project and that running back and forth to a camera to check each shot is good cardio. I want to continue this project during the quarantine to keep bringing smiles to people’s faces and to give them hope.
The only way we can end this thing is to work together and stay inside. So for the time being, I’ll see you inside.
