“Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary…” Edgar Allen Poe, “The Raven,” 1845 Here, during London’s lockdown, we’ve seen many ravens. My wife, Fiona, recently reminded me of Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven,” the much-adored lamentation for the lost and unknown. Repeatedly, a raven tells Poe’s […]
In March 2010, when urbanist bloggers were few and twitter was in its infancy, I wandered my then-neighborhood in Seattle and wrote about some easy fixes that would help bring the city out of the recession. Ten years later, amid post-pandemic prophecies about how cities might address public safety, transportation, […]
As quarantines relax, many urban residents show behavior that belongs to a stage of reopening not yet formally announced by government. In short, flouters adopt “Phase 2” activities in “Phase 1.” Is this a mostly harmless and realistic “cutting edge,” or impatience in the form of reckless abandon? What does […]
In my initial post last week, I suggested five operational themes available for any photographer interested in documenting emergence from urban life in quarantine. The first thematic question asked: “How are transitional messages (such as the move from “Stay Home, Save Lives” to “Stay Alert, Control the Virus” in England) […]
Let’s face it. Although lacking the physical realities of human proximity, Zoom interactions approximate those that otherwise occur in public streets and squares. Scholars of place such as Edward Relph have maintained that physical placemaking is but one of many ways to “ground” the intangibles of human association and community. […]
My efforts to document city change over the past several years can suggest this pandemic season does not look much different than what came before. These images are a lesson learned. Any “new normal” must go deeper than dining outside in public space (visible above in 2008 in Italy), more […]
Since March, photographs have played a major role in illustrating the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic: life in quarantine. Particularly in public places, emptiness inspired documentation, and physical distancing–or a rebellious lack thereof–became regular topics for online publication and social media. Simultaneously, technology allowed online meetings as a richly […]
