ZoneV Photography

We all belong to some camp or another. Changing camps on changing topics. None of this is a problem, as long as a few topics do not dominate all other topics. If this is the case, then there is a danger that society will split and find it very difficult to come together again. No one gives in, and ultimately no one listens to the other.

At the beginning of the pandemic, there were shortages of many goods, mainly masks were hard to get. Governments started to buy masks on a large scale. As it turns out, at least in Germany, there were politicians who more or less creatively took advantage of this situation by brokering masks to the government for high commissions. These machinations came now to light for several members of the Bundestag. Therefore, on current occasion: this picture.

Depending on where you live, almost everyone knows someone who died because of Covid. And it is often the case that people died while in intensive care, alone for themselves, without friends or relatives being able to say goodbye.

Many people who live without their family or just alone go through hard times since it is not easy to meet many people. Although there is social media, loneliness is a problem in this pandemic times - and maybe also in other times where people isolate themselves.

When looking at all what is going on, I often think about what does it look like once the pandemic is over. And what I can foresee is that there will be many changes and often not to the best. Due to pandemic restrictions many museums are locked, restaurants, bars and clubs are not allowed to open. Hotels can only open for business travelers but there are only few since whoever can work from home will do so. Smaller shops are also not allowed to open except those which sell good of daily use. More and more people feel marginalized and then feel abandoned by society and eventually turn away.

So once it is over, what we will see is that there will be quite some loss. Will the favorite restaurant open again? Many shops might have closed their doors forever. Also some cultural institutions might just be history.

All that reminds me of a book I read many years ago from one of my favorite authors: In the Country of Last Things from Paul Auster. And the above image is my try to visualize the current situation having all this in mind.