Why am I even Here

This project is a portrait of our daughter Penelope in self quarantine during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic when we were forced to leave our lives in New York, relocating to the countryside. Together we confronted a problem common amongst her peers and involving her in the creative process we were alleviating a condition that was wearing her down. Living with Covid-19 is like having the specter of fear and depression at home ready to attack and it finds fertile ground amongst adolescents in particular, adding to their restlessness and frequent mood swings. The pandemic has isolated kids and distanced them from one another, the only contact is through a virtual world where their existence is based on a distorted reality, this leaves them feeling lost and alienated. At an age when they are searching for approval and self-recognition, they lack substance to help them elaborate this new, temporary but long-lasting condition. The center of the triptych represents an immobilized state and sense of alienation while the sides reveal moods and restlessness. We shot only three photographs each day on 6X6 film in the same exact place. This family ritual continued every day for ninety days, we entered the space together, working on emotions, captivity, contingent facts and with the light offered up to us each day. No rain or wind could postpone this daily event. Throughout the sequence of images we witness nature transforming as the seasons pass, growing and mutating, reclaiming space, undeterred by humanity’s temporary suspension.