The dilemma of three photographs. One establishing the location, one shot from above, framed and edited as more of a piece of art, and the third a closer glimpse at the subjects: a few friends gathered in the empty Park City Mall in Lancaster, PA practicing social distancing during the Covid 19 pandemic that is rocking the entire world.
Which image to publish? The cool artistic one or the one that more clearly tells the story? Form or function? Art and manipulation or the accuracy of true photojournalism? These are the musings of a photographer with an eye to tell a story, a camera that can fly and his digital tools to edit and stream his final product to anyone on the internet willing to take a look. Perhaps all three images are needed to really tell the story and then he thinks... maybe a few words can even support the narrative.
Friends meet for a social distancing dinner under the light post.
I've been lucky to stumble on most of my best images and these I certainly fell on. A few friends (I later learned named Lorin and Jennifer amongst others) who were craving human interaction decided to meet to share an evening meal. Lorin suggested meeting near a tall lamp pole as she guessed rightly that their gathering would go into the night, other friends dropping by also keeping their distance.
We've been instructed by experts to stay six feet apart, and that's hard for humans who are used to greeting each other with hugs and handshakes. Yet we find creative ways to continue to live, to manage, and even find ways to laugh and spend time together. The human race is resilient and determined and I personally love seeing the ways we continue to connect with our tribes despite the need to be physically apart. Neighbors chatting across fences, new digital social platforms being used and many of us connecting purely through these small gadgets we all hold in our hands. I choose to believe we will survive and thrive again soon. I choose to believe that we will be better humans for this experience, more fully appreciating each other and those friendly embraces when we finally can again.
The phrase "keep in touch" has an entirely new meaning these days, but I'm confident we will!