In Review: May 2020 photos & the year so far.
2020 — New beginnings.
This past month and indeed the bulk of this year have been like no other — at least not in my lifetime. At times it has felt like we have fallen further and further into a melting pot of chaos and frustration. At times the quietness is broken only by the birds conversing, and the distant hum of the ocean.
In many ways 2020 has driven a lot of people to a blunt, involuntary, and hard reset. It has done so for me in terms of my goals & ambitions. I started 2020 with a 366 photo project — it’s exactly what it sounds like, 366 photos in 2020, one taken each day. It started well despite juggling my regular job, the fact it was in the depths of winter, and the very limited light in the mornings and evenings. I made it through around 50 days of the project. Despite this apparent failure I learned a lot about my style, voice, and intent as a photographer. I grew & I better identified where I want to grow further.
March & marks of chaos.
When COVID-19 hit Ireland I found myself using daily walks alongside socially distanced evenings making photographs as a means of release. These got me through each days a little less unscathed mentally. Try though I may to act like it didn’t all take a toll, it did. For most of us it did in some way. As the months have rolled on I’ve found myself becoming more accustomed to the quiet. To waking to the sounds of birds chirping happily, instead of the sounds of lines of cars passing by the house. I’ve grown used to walking the beaches with scarcely a few souls to wave across the beach to. In ways COVID-19 has made the world a colder place. We’re told to distance from one another, to avoid contact with certain people, but in many ways I feel it has made the world warmer. I’ve found people wave more now where before they kept their heads down. People stop for a distanced chat where before they were in a rush.
As an advocate for slow living it feels like people have gravitated towards a more present and slower approach to each day. We’re warmer and more empathetic to each other because — for once — this is an experience shared by all. While the pandemic has affected us all individually in different ways, we are all affected by it in some way.
I find solace in the empathy that has flown more openly. I find joy in stopping to chat to elderly and vulnerable neighbours from a distance. I find joy in seeing their faces light up and that little burst of joy and gratitude for the conversation. This pandemic has slowed us all down to being a bit more present, a bit more empathetic. If we take any great lessons from this pandemic, I hope that increased empathy & kindness are among them.
I equally hope that we can all move forward with a greater appreciation for the frontline workers who have saved the lives of so many in our health service, and for those that did all they could to maintain dignity and compassion for those who took their final breaths. They are the heroes that walk among us. Also for those who have kept food supply chains flowing, served in our shops and kept the shelves full. To those who have delivered our post and packages, and those who have delivered our shopping when people couldn’t go out. We are a warm people, and it is our duty to remember all who stepped up to the plate when this pandemic bore heavily on us.
I don’t know the road that lies ahead, but I know that the best thing we can do to get ourselves through it is to be as kind & empathetic to ourselves as we would be to a dear friend or loved one. If we have a bad day, that’s okay. We must not berate ourselves. We must not belittle ourselves and say “I’m stupid. My problems compared to [person(s) x or y] are stupid.” — doing so achieves nothing but negative attitude towards ourselves and there are no benefits to doing so. Empathy & kindness must be at the core of what we do for ourselves and those in our lives.
Moving Forward
As we move to June and America crumbles in the wake of the horrific treatment and murder of George Floyd, things again seem to take a turn further towards dismay and chaos. As white people it is our job to educate ourselves, to try harder, and to support black people in America (and indeed across the world) as they fight a battle that they should never have had to fight in the first place. A fight for equality. A fight to end racism. We must all be anti-racism. We must all do better.
Note: If you have no idea where to start with approaching racism and how to be anti-racism, or indeed to begin to understand the issues as a whole, this post is a basic introduction of how you can help. That said, do your research. Find reputable authors and publications. Learn, engage, discuss, and grow. Don’t believe what you read on Facebook or Twitter without looking further into it. Be open and willing to be hard on your opinions.
As an Irish man I’ve grown up in a predominantly white country, one that absolutely has a massive undercurrent of racism running through it. As a country that suffered for hundreds of years at the hands of our nearest neighbours because of the fact that we were Irish, you’d think we’d know better than to be racist. I’ll hold my hands up to my own prejudices in this life. I have been wrong about people of all different creeds, races, and beliefs in this lifetime. I have cracked inappropriate jokes to get a laugh without thinking about the consequences. I am not perfect, but a I am constantly learning and trying to do better. I will continue to do so.
All that said, here I am living in a country where people happily go online and talk about deporting a 15 year old black child because of a video he posted online.*
15 years old. A child. A child that made a mistake and has the capacity to learn (same as we all did!), and yet white Irish people call for him to deported. What sort of message does that send him as a citizen of Ireland? To see his fellow countrymen and women say he should be deported for one fuck up that he recorded on video and posted to the internet. What’s happening in America may be the real focus and what everyone is engaging with, but we need to do so on our own soil too. It is not enough to say that those men and women who called for him to be deported are in the wrong. It’s not enough to write a tweet and to say this is unacceptable. We can and must do more. We must do better. When we do, we must root our approach in empathy and kindness for our fellow humans. It is the only true path forward.
As we move forward and approach the second half of 2020 I have no doubt that more challenging times lay ahead. It is often overwhelming and far too often many of us may feel helpless to help. We must push through.
I’ll close this out for now. I’ve rambled my way through a strange year in review enough so far. I’ll leave you with some of my favourite images from the month of May. I hope they bring you some moments of joy and calm. Remember, be kind and empathetic to yourself and to those around you. Together we will push through.
How has 2020 been going for you? How’re you feeling? Have you learned anything this year and what are your plans as we move forward into the second half of 2020? Let me know in the comments below.
Stay safe.
— Jerry
