2-meter chronicles

Physical distancing on the job

Well, who could have predicted that as we near the end of April, this is where we would be? Whether anybody wants to believe it or not, for the first time in my lifetime, nearly everyone in the world is being impacted by the same event at the same time and, mostly, in similar ways.

Personally, I am very, very fortunate. My family and loved ones are safe and healthy. Also, living on an island, although a very large island, has helped reduce the number of positive COVID-19 cases around me. And, certainly least importantly, I am very busy with work.

That work has shifted, as mentioned in my previous post, to a few tasks. And photography is only a partial focus for what I’m being asked to do. Primarily, my colleagues and I are tasked with delivering Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry’s daily updates via livestream and video clips. I help with the video production and act as backup camera person. I also document each update with a few photos. Occasionally, I manage to get a behind-the-scenes shot of the Minister of Health and the PHO in an office or hallway. While the photography hasn’t been that diverse, it does feel like we are documenting an historic event and time.

When I am not involved with the video/photo work, I have returned to my graphic design roots, to help with the translation of social media graphics into multiple languages. Since the crisis began, we have been working six days a week.

I would love to have different photographic challenges and there are times that I envy my colleagues who are shooting on the streets in larger cities or those with amble time on their hands now to work on personal projects. I am not complaining! As I wrote above, I am very, very lucky.

Herein is some observational documentation of the government’s pandemic response. For those of you who follow me on Instagram or Twitter, you will see that I attempt to post daily updates of my 2-meter chronicles. If you would like to follow me on Instagram, please click the Follow button on my profile to send me a request. As this situation is bound to continue for quite some time, I will follow up here with more images in the coming weeks.

I hope that you remain safe and healthy and can find ways to stay kind and calm.

All the best.

NB: No surprise that all of these photos were captured with Fujifilm X-series cameras and Fujinon lenses. An interesting aspect to physical distancing has meant that the media no longer attend the daily briefings, which means that I can move around the press theatre quite freely. That in turn has meant that most of these images were captured with a couple of primes, rather than my two zooms.