We're all in this together!
The time now feels surreal. Countries are chaotic, people are scared and confused, and politics has taken a different turn. But amidst all this chaos and suffering, all of us seem to share similar feelings and emotions. "We are all in this together" is a photo essay based on my journey from Paris to India during the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this series of work, I am trying to document the current state of forced social alienation of mankind, the feeling of isolation in my surroundings, the emptiness of otherwise lively places, and my journey through all of this across two continents and demographics. In some ways, the fear of an uncertain future or the forced imposition of social alienation and isolation binds us in a common thread of "we are all in this together." The act of photography became my only way to connect with the emotions of the people around me in these difficult times. The series starts from my apartment in Paris, attempting to capture what I can see within my limits from a window—the unusually lonely streets of Paris and the airport. I saw people from other apartments waving at me. After eight months of living in the same studio, nobody ever spoke to me, and suddenly, on this one day, someone waved at me. It gave me hope that we are all in this together, a kind of camaraderie.
I took pictures of the empty rooms that were visible, and the streets of Paris that were never so empty. Where did they all go? This image of Paris was heartbreaking for me. I had to leave Paris in a hurry. It felt sad to leave Paris. This is not how I imagined my departure would be. So, here I was at the airport. People sitting at the ticket counter keeping their distance or just away from a crowd, to avoid contact and maintaining distance was a very new experience. I started photographing their feelings of uncertainty, fear, suspicion, and maybe a dash of hope to be homebound. Landing at home was no different. The feeling of uncertainty was so strong that the atmosphere itself felt lonely and cold. Once I reached home, I was immediately under self-isolation for fourteen days as part of the standard quarantine process. Stuck in a room, the camera was an obvious choice of my window to the outside. Taking photos of people, of surroundings, and the overall shroud of peace and tranquillity obscures the feelings of uncertainty and concern.
