Ghost Town – Images from a Pandemic

I created this photo-essay at the very beginning of the 2020 Covid pandemic. These early months were a period of great concern and confusion, when no one knew exactly what type of contagion we were dealing with, how it was spread or how virulent it might be. Was it a bacteria, a virus, something else? During this period of great concern and fear, the city implemented mandates to help slow the spread of infection. People chose to stay home, restaurants closed inside dining, the city emptied out and roadways became devoid of traffic. The city felt like a ghost town…

NOTE: Please view these images on a big screen and not on a phone. The images are intended to be viewed large in order to convey how the city felt during the pandemic.

Ghost:

noun
The soul of a dead person, a disembodied spirit imagined, usually as a vague, shadowy or evanescent form, as wandering among or haunting living persons; a mere shadow or semblance; a trace

When we think of a ghost, we think of something that is no longer alive yet persists as a reflection of what was before. Familiar, yet absent the spirit of life. This photo-essay is my impression of how the city of Vancouver felt during the first fearful months of the 2020 COVID 19 pandemic. The sudden absence of people and vehicles throughout the city was both startling and surreal, and I wanted to capture how it looked and felt. I began my photography career as a photojournalist and it’s been years since I have practiced those reportage skills. This event seemed like an opportunity to return to my black and white photography roots. Black and white photography felt like the perfect medium for documenting this story. I also felt called to record this event, as I did wonder whether it might be the last series I photographed in my life.

Vancouver locations that were perpetually filled with tourists and the buzz of activity, became vacant without a single person or moving vehicle in sight. A city that still looked the same, but was devoid of the usual spirit of vitality and hustle-bustle. The silence of the city was both unsettling and yet somehow peaceful. While photographing this series, it reminded me that all our creations and the marvelous things we have built are empty and meaningless without the presence of people.