The neighbourhood - Phase 2

Introduction:
When I searched for hobby photographers I immediately wanted to contact some of the people I follow on Instagram. I followed Aram for his street photography and I initially thought that he was a professional photographer, since he has a website where he sells prints and a blog where he writes about photography. During the interview, I found out that he is studying Agricultural Architecture and that photography is his hobby and passion. He was suitable for my project since I wanted to learn about experiences of people that are photographing in the streets right now. I did not expect him to reveal that he is currently not photographing in the streets. However, this is what makes this project so interesting in my opinion. I learned about the thoughts and behaviour of different people during the pandemic and this is great.

I follow you on Instagram mainly because of your street photography and I wonder if you also photographed and documented during the virus or if you took a break.

Yes! I did take pictures. I was in Berlin for an internship and was finished when it started. Then, I was in Berlin for another week and then I went to my sister in Halle. It's a smaller city. When I was in Berlin again, everything was really empty. In Berlin, I still did not notice the changes of the virus that much. In Halle, I noticed it more, because I was there during the time of lockdown. But then I concentrated more on nature and abstract photography outside the city.

So, you concentrated more on things that were not related to the Corona virus?

Yes, but that was mainly because there just weren't that many people on the streets.
I'm also only shooting with a fixed focal length and I have to get very close. And that's why I didn't want to take pictures of the people. If someone comes out and wears a mask I found it strange to bother them and hold the camera in their face. So, I went out of the city and into the nature.

In my project I try to study the body language of people on the street during the crisis. I decided to only take pictures of people without their knowledge, so that they behave as they would normally behave. Are you communicating with people right now or have you also chosen the more documentary way?

In general, I don’t stage pictures and I mostly take pictures without asking. I tried to take pictures in Berlin a few times. And for me it wasn't different from normal. I actually found it more relaxed than usual. Most of the time I try to hide in the crowd while taking pictures. Of course I found that a little difficult in the time.

Apart from the photography. How have you experienced the last months? Was it a stressful or rather relaxed time for you?

I found it rather relaxed. Now regardless of the bad things that probably happened to a lot of people. I thought it was a good time. My rhythm and my routine hasn't changed that much.  Only at the beginning of the crisis I felt a little strange. When all the shops were empty and you saw the medieval herd thinking, it was scary. Once I had to go to 4 shops just to buy noodles with tomato sauce. But after that I found it more relaxed than usual. One got away from the thinking that one has to do something now. A bit like a relaxed time-out.

My last question concerns how we feel about each other during the crisis. I feel much more connected to everyone, because I know that there is a problem that we all have to deal with now. Do you feel the same way?

I do. Most people are more friendly, relaxed and helpful. But with in the village where my parents live it's a bit different. If you forget to put on a mask there, for example, you might get insulted for being antisocial etc. - maybe it's different in the village, because people don't have so much contact with other people and only have the internet and TV as a reference point.