{"id":12673,"date":"2020-03-26T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-26T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maundymitchell.com\/?p=12673"},"modified":"2020-03-25T21:48:13","modified_gmt":"2020-03-26T01:48:13","slug":"social-distancing-images-of-a-small-town-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maundymitchell.com\/photography\/social-distancing-images-of-a-small-town-part-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"Social Distancing: Images of a Small Town, Part II"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Someone asked me about this project: \u201cWhy don\u2019t you photograph the bright side of this situation?\u201d  This is a personal project about the effects of a global pandemic on a small town. Of course, there is always a bright side.  Many people are enjoying time at home \u2013 in a warm house with plenty of food and no obligations.  But I\u2019ve always worried about people, even if I don\u2019t know their stories.  Do they have enough food?  How long can they pay their bills without work?  Will they have to close their business?  Will they have to give up their beloved pet?  Are they lonely?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are the kinds of questions that photographer Dorothea Lange asked herself during the Great Depression.  She was a studio portrait photographer who began to photograph people standing in line for soup outside. Could she have found comfortable, happy families to photograph during this time?  Of course.  We all choose what to notice. The beautiful thing about art is that every artist has her own perspective. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you see a photo of someone who isn\u2019t smiling, do you automatically dislike it?  Does it make you uncomfortable?  I’m going to ask you to look closer.  What is their expression really saying?  It\u2019s almost never a matter of \u201chappy\u201d or \u201cmad\u201d.  There are many other feelings in between.  In this age of quick scrolling, cropped previews, and short attention spans, we have lost something important.  We\u2019ve lost the kind of connection that results from truly taking the time to look at one another.  We\u2019ve lost a little empathy.  Maybe we can get that back during this time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is my artist statement, and it applies to every kind of work I do, whether I\u2019m creating studio portraits for a client, or working on a documentary-style personal project, such as this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Henry David Thoreau wrote: \u201cCould a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other\u2019s eyes for an instant?\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through my work, I ask the viewer for empathy toward the subject. The invitation to look closer is key to a successful portrait. This can be done with expression, body language, composition, and lighting, among other things.  A closer look creates empathy, and empathy brings people together.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Campton,
Campton Elementary School and public library – closed sign<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Downtown
Downtown theater marquee<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Downtown
Downtown theater marquee<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Signs
Signs on bank door<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Sue, outside the closed community thrift shop she runs <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Jim, playing guitar at his home
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Paula
Paula and Heidi at their home<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Cynthia,
Cynthia, who runs the University’s museum, which is temporarily closed<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Jonathan
Jonathan and Marcia, outside their home<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

You can see more from this project here: http:\/\/maundymitchell.com\/social-distancing-images-of-a-small-town\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Someone asked me about this project: \u201cWhy don\u2019t you photograph the bright side of this situation?\u201d  This is a personal project about the effects of a global pandemic on a small town. Of course, there is always a bright side.  Many people are enjoying time at home \u2013 in a warm house with plenty of food and<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12687,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[14,21,53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-personal","category-portraits","category-social-distancing"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maundymitchell.com\/photography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maundymitchell.com\/photography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maundymitchell.com\/photography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maundymitchell.com\/photography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maundymitchell.com\/photography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12673"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/maundymitchell.com\/photography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12673\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12709,"href":"https:\/\/maundymitchell.com\/photography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12673\/revisions\/12709"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maundymitchell.com\/photography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maundymitchell.com\/photography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maundymitchell.com\/photography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maundymitchell.com\/photography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}