Diary of a Pandemic: April 24, 2020
The fifth in a weekly series of curations of images made by Magnum photographers around the world, working and living under varying degrees of social restriction
The COVID-19 outbreak has seen most Magnum photographers restricted in their movements. As part of an ongoing photographer-led initiative, Magnum photographers are sharing information, updates, and new work made in these strange and difficult times.
Each week, we are featuring edits of these images, selected by project leader Peter van Agtmael, alongside personal notes and reflections from Magnum photographers on how they are experiencing the unfolding situation. Van Agtmael’s selections also include images incorporated into the ongoing collaboration between Magnum Photos and National Geographic which brings readers a global look at how coronavirus is impacting the worlds these photographers see inside—and just outside—their windows. You can see the latest iteration of the collaboration here.
New work on the crisis will be shared daily through Magnum Photos’ Instagram feed and Instagram Stories takeovers.
Lorenzo Meloni
Erbusco (BS). Italy. April 6, 2020.
“Newspaper Print center. The discolored portraits of the obituary announcements of the Eco di Bergamo. During the COVID-19 crisis in Bergamo, the newspaper reached up to 12 pages of obituaries. Erbusco (BS). Italy. April 6, 2020. “
Chien-Chi Chang
Graz. Austria. Home with kids during the Austria lockdown due to the global pandemic COVID-19.
Jim Goldberg
Petaluma, California. USA. April 13, 2020.
“I decided to focus on our closest neighbors, Margaret and Pat H. They pride themselves in being completely self sustaining and able to survive for another 3 months without ever having to leave their home during the quarantine. They have a freezer full of frozen meat, cupboards packed with canned goods, and animals that can be slaughtered if need be. We are very lucky to live close by as they always will help us with small and large problems that may occur. Margaret made masks for my family. I photographed her in her Easter and everyday clothes as she performed her daily farm tasks of feeding her chickens and sheep. ”
Patrick Zachmann
Chevilly Larue, France. April 7, 2020.
“Society SAPI, belonging to ‘Artisans du Funéraire’ where 15 people work to prepare the coffins before being delivered to the place where the person died. During this time of COVID-19, they double the number of coffins per day: from usually around 75 per day to 150 as of mid-March.”
Nanna Heitmann
Moscow. Russia. March 25, 2020.
“GUM shopping mall, two days before complete lock-down. The shopping malls and restaurants in the shopping mall on the Red Square are nearly empty.”
Olivia Arthur
London. GB. April 20, 2020.
“Nono helps her dad out at their cafe, taking orders on the phone for takeaway food. Nono’s dad runs a Japanese cafe just down the road from us and after the government announced support for furloughed workers, Akio took it up as the only way for the business to survive this crisis. He is however allowed to open for takeaway food and so they go to the cafe each morning. Nono wears her school uniform and does homework while Akio works in the cafe but he also allows her to learn some tasks like how to take orders over the phone. For many businesses, even if the furloughed staff are paid by the government, there are still many overheads to cover to stay afloat and so doing a tiny bit of business is better than doing none.”
Antoine d’Agata
Val-d’Oise, Taverny. Ile de France. France. March, 2020.
“Disposable Gloves on the ground. They are supposed to be the new essentials.”
Gueorgui Pinkhassov
Moscow. Russia April 6, 2020.
“I live in the North East of Moscow. Here is a coffee shop, open till 9pm. Normally it would be 11pm.
She feels lonely and afraid sometimes, of the virus and of strangers. But she sells products that make people more comfortable, like coffee.”
Bruno Barbey
Paris. France. 15 April 2020. Retired psychiatrist Marc Windisch recites poems to comfort people.
Jonas Bendiksen
Nesoddtangen. Norway. March 20, 2020.
“At home with daughters Boe and Billie, as all the nursery schools are closed during the Coronavirus outbreak.”
Alex Majoli
Catania, Sicily. Italy. March 25, 2020.
“Carmelo Iacobello, head of the infectious disease department at Cannizzaro Hospital, meets with his team. ‘I have never seen anything like this in my career,’ he says, ‘You think everything is fine. Then, when it gets into the lungs, it convinces the body to fight so much, we end up killing our own bodies.'”
Lorenzo Meloni
Pisa. Italy. March 19, 2020. The tower of Pisa. All tourist attractions remain closed due to the epidemic.
Zied Ben Romdhane
Montreal. Canada. March 23, 2020. Corona crisis. Entrance of a supermarket.
"Fecamp Caux Littoral Agglo", Garbage collection. Fecamp. Normandy. France. April 9, 2020. © Jean Gaumy | Magnum Photos
Jean Gaumy
Fecamp. Normandy. France. April 9, 2020. Coronavirus. “Fecamp Caux Littoral Agglo”, garbage collection.
Enri Canaj
Athens. Greece. March 29, 2020.
“This is our secret place. We discovered this last week. It feels safe because nobody else besides the 3 of us and the sun are here. Exercising is the reason we are out. Producing vitamin D has become our favorite exercise.”
Alessandra Sanguinetti
Sebastopol, California. USA. April 10, 2020.
“My daughter Catalina misses her friends very much, so we did the rounds in our car and visited her best friends from far way.
We met Kian and her Mom who are walking their horses. The farriers can’t come and do their hooves so walking them on pavement helps wear them down enough.”
Gregory Halpern
Rochester, New York. USA. March 27, 2020. Gregory Halpern documents his children during the Coronavirus Pandemic.
Olivia Arthur
London. GB. 2020. Photographs of a banana taken around 10 am every day between March 23, 2020 and April 6, 2020.
