The Pandemic Lens^®

In March, COVID-19 hit like a ton of bricks. Most of us tried to stay out of its way, but some people couldn’t shelter at home and had no choice but to confront the virus head on. Police, fire, grocery workers, health care providers, hospital staff went to jobs that had quickly become perilous. Some…

On a recent photo excursion, I took some shots at an eerily empty professional soccer stadium, the Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, home to the New York Red Bulls soccer club.  Empty, quiet, not a soul around. Ticket booths shuttered as no fans can attend any games during the pandemic. What a strange…

By now it’s pretty commonplace around Cambridge, Mass., to see people wearing protective headgear and masks on bicycles, scooters, mopeds, and even motorcycles. I’m grateful for their effort and commitment to helping stanch the Corona spread. But the masks—a constant reminder of the state of the world today–are still too recent and I do a…

I use Instagram as a rough barometer to show me which of my images of the pandemic appeal the most. Masked faces are the most popular in my feed, but not just any masked faces—I get the most engagement with images of faces that are nearly completely obscured, leaving it up to the viewer to…

Just when I think things are starting to look the same, someone interesting finds his or her way into my viewfinder. I’m always on the lookout for interesting masks or prosaic scenes that aren’t mundane at all when you factor in the face coverings and social distancing.  Here’s a recap of recent miscellaneous images ranging…

At this time of the year, Harvard Square is typically teeming with people moving en masse, which benefits street musicians like Peter Pobodry. A fixture in the Square, Peter is a terrific classical guitarist (I’ve bought several of his CDs over the years). I was glad to see that he had a mask at the…

After over 20 years of ownership changes, construction delays, and financial and legal challenges, the American Dream Mall was slated to open, finally, in March 2020, but then was forced to close temporarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic. One day, I decided to make a few photographs of this giant retail, sports and entertainment complex…

I couldn’t resist substituting a mask for my napkin at a recent dinner get together with two if our neighbors in the “Driveway Bistro” (a parking space replete with designer lights and jazz music; no dress code). The evening was by normal measures a smashing success—-delicious food (chef hats off to my wife, Ruth), a…

The last week has been pretty much the same non-normal=new normal equation, at least in my neck of the woods (Cambridge and Boston MA). I’m still finding the relatively empty streets, the outdoor dining extensions of restaurants, and of course, the masked people, to be quite surreal. My hope is that this situation doesn’t drag…

I took this picture in downtown LA between the second and third mile of my late afternoon walk. I saw this woman with bright orange hair as I turned the corner from Seventh to Spring. Her stance was just right, as if I’d posed her. What stood out to me was her amazing hair and…