Still Closed until Further Notice
By Steve Edson | July 31, 2020
No news is good news but lately we have had too much bad news in almost all economic, health, social and political sectors. Boston was hammered with patients being admitted to the different hospitals. Thankfully, with responsible leadership listening to our doctors and scientists, we have lowered the curve but we are still losing people daily to this deadly virus.
These images reflect my direct experience of being out in the different Boston neighborhoods attempting to accurately document what I was and continue to see through the pandemic lens.
COPLEY SQUARE, PRUDENTIAL CENTER
People wandering around a mostly closed urban mall with all the lights turned off doesn’t help making me feel welcome or comfortable. Everyone keeping their distance while barely looking or acknowledging one another. One or two restaurants are doing takeout only and a few people are headed to pickup their food but the rest–I really don’t know what they are doing wondering around a closed indoor shopping center with all the clothing stores locked up tight.
Horizontal color photograph of people walking in the closed Prudential Shopping Center in Copley Square, Boston, MA.
BACK BAY
I have always been somewhat interested in mannequins because of their close resemblance to humans, except they aren’t. They only look like humans….but what if…..and that is my fascination. In these times, when people have deserted the streets and are staying home, the mannequins remain as a reminder that are stronger, they remain steadfast watching the watchers but in these days of the cornavirus pandemic there are very few people interested in shopping for anything besides food. The sentries are still there though, keeping watch while showing off the latest fashions.
Horizontal color photograph of a bald mannequin in store window with reflections during the coronavirus pandemic. Boston, MA
NORTH END
Finally Boston is quiet. Some would say, too quiet but I like it like this. No traffic jams, nobody yelling at each other, no waiting at lights to cross the streets. A person in a local store gambling and playing with scratch lottery tickets hoping to find a pot of gold while others are locked inside and afraid contracting the virus. Maybe anything is better than being totally bored of life in their small apartments and just needed to get out for a change of scenery. People are just dying to get back into their routines.
Horizontal color photograph of a man in the front window of a store betting on scratch lottery tickets while dressed in face mask and Patriots hat during the coronavirus pandemic. Boston, MA
SOUTH STATION
Locked down and not much moving around. Everything is so familiar and totally different. On a normal day, thousands of people would be out going from South Station to their offices but today the area is empty of life as we remember it. A few cars, a few people, maybe essential workers heading home or going to their jobs but in this moment, time has stood still.
Horizontal color photograph of the Greenway and Atlantic Ave buildings near South Station. Boston, MA
FENWAY
Not much causes a city to cheer and yell in celebration after a close game and a win at Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox. Today, there isn’t much going on except these bronze statues standing as a reminder that the game must go on…eventually. The lingering question now is when? Sports is one of the greatest distractions from the mundane day to day routines that most people are engaged in. Homes being destroyed by tornado’s, fear is all around us while the coronavirus victims are getting worse and being hospitalized, unemployment is rampant, political unrest, abusive police, another country bombing and killing its neighbors continues. Bad news is heaped upon us like sugar on cold cereal. Those of us who love reading and mulling over the box scores from yesterdays games while eating our breakfasts and enjoying the opinions by the local sports writer’s about critical game mis-steps, player errors, bench clearing brawls and whether to keep the pitcher in the game or not, run the play or pass, double triples or 40 game points by a player on the parquet along with pages of box scores and statistics have all disappeared and sports has became irrelevant to the masses because there are no games to watch or are being played. Not yet and probably not anytime too soon and when it does come back, it’s going to be all very different experience to watch and be a fan again.
Horizontal color photograph of a bronze statues of four Red Sox players, Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, Johnny Pesky and Dom Dimaggio outside of Fenway Park during coronavirus pandemic. Boston, MA
The camera works to document the external, but more importantly, magnifies the mysteries which exist within one’s self. How does emotion impact memory? How does ambiguity and POV change our perception of reality while the familiar slides into the unknown? Steve’s images begin to dissolve into a study about our solitary existence. His images reveal over and over the metaphorical fog that shrouds our experience. Not just an observer, Steve is present with us, describing but also raising questions about what we think we see. Steve thrives on creating fresh and authentic images experimenting with both his and the viewer’s perceptions while exploring the roads less travelled.