A few days into my isolated quarantine, I noticed that my photographer friend, Cat Garcia, was posting images to her Instagram account under the title, A-Z At Home. I was blown away by the simple yet effective concept and chose to accept it as a personal assignment.
Cat’s very first image blew me away.
Twenty-nineteen was a big year for my passion for photography. After a lifetime of feeling dissatisfied with the flatness of images coming out of my phone camera, I set a goal for myself last year to elevate my skills as a photographer. Unfortunately, photography had held a dark cloud over it for many years, but I was eager to engage it with intentionality after some time and mental clarity.
From a rainforest in British Columbia to exploring the cities and forests and museums of my youth to embedding with Nick Perri & The Underground Thieves and reliving the joy of my earliest days in music - the photography experiences I had over 2019 were incredible. When the global health crisis began, I wondered what opportunities and complications would present themselves to continue photographing moments of my life from inside my one-bedroom apartment. A-Z At Home was the perfect challenge.
The process became quite demanding, as I was eager to invent new compositions and ideas with each successive letter. I also didn’t want to copy Cat too much or too often, though I took inspiration from the stark contrasts of her stunning black and white imagery and chose to adopt the same for my collection.
At first, images were mere objects I spotted around my home, but that only lasts for so long. Eventually, I found myself pushing boundaries to apply the same thought and mindfulness that I try to utilize in other facets of my life. Even when a letter begged for a simple object to stand as its subject, I pushed myself to find different ways to explore that project. I also found myself driving to elevate specific ideas based on the information I was consuming in quarantine.
A fascinating NYTimes essay about the evolution of the self-nude painting during history’s plagues and quarantines put so much context around some of my most beloved artists. Suddenly the notion that Frida Kahlo turned her paintbrush toward her own body when her health kept her from engaging with the outside world was a notion that felt much more relevant and relatable. I started to think about putting myself in my images - not just as a first for the project, but a first in general - I don’t often relish the chance to appear in front of the lens. But if Frida painted it, maybe I could photograph it, too.
“F: Foot” was inspired by Frida Kahlo
“F,” which I took in early May, was an example of this. Rather than finding some object or something inanimate that coincidentally connected with the letter, F, I opted to focus on my foot. By the time “M” came around a few days later, I mustered the courage to include myself - “Me” - for the letter.
A thought that has persisted in the nearly three months since I’ve self-quarantined has been, “What story are you telling?” I’ve been acutely aware that we’re all writing our own narratives during this strange and unparalleled time, and I’ve been driven to answer that question through creative expression whenever possible.
The other thing about “M” is that you can clearly see the bags under my eyes, the dried skin on my face, and my abnormally long hair. These are characteristics that I wouldn’t normally choose to highlight, but they are realities of my self-quarantine. The assignment pushed me toward honesty.
As my A-Z At Home collection matured, I wanted it to be as much a reflection of the times and the stories I’m choosing to tell. Later installments pushed me to make decisions and step out of my comfort zone, which is both an artistic necessity and a ridiculously complicated endeavor when you can’t actually leave your home - your literal comfort zone. The series ends with “Zoom Call” because it's an omnipresent reality in our lives, and speaks to the notion of an outside world still existing, even if we can’t see it.
When I look back on these images, I hope the story remains as meaningful and as motivating as it felt to write it at the moment.
Now can be a time for creativity. It requires discipline and focus, but the end result has been a lot of fun.
