Lauran Murphy COVID-19 Photo Essay
Item
- Title
- Lauran Murphy COVID-19 Photo Essay
- Subject
- COVID-19 (Disease)
- Description
-
The past twenty months have been strange, unpredictable and lonely at times. The Coronavirus pandemic has been an experience that no human in modern times has ever encountered before, and thus a variation of emotions have surfaced. Society has slowly but surely adapted with the times by dealing with the alien concepts of quarantine and lockdown by remaining positive and creating memories with loved ones. Throughout lockdown, my family and I encapsulated many fun memories through photography, which has given us the chance to remember these unique moments forevermore. Here are my favourite pictures that myself and my family took during the ‘Chronicles of Covid-19'.
Image 1) The Fear of the Unknown
This photo was taken during lunchtime on March 12th 2020 – the day we heard the announcement about schools and colleges closing as a result of Coronavirus. Sitting on the bus on the way to school that morning, my friend and I had been chatting about how strange the day felt and how something felt ‘off’ - little did we know what the world was about to encounter! I was playing music with a music group in my school for St. Patrick’s Day when one of my teachers ran into the music hall with the news. As the day progressed and lunchtime approached, the school became a panic zone! International students were crying and hugging their friends, Leaving Cert students were panicking about their upcoming orals, teachers were running around trying to hand their students worksheets and everybody was grabbing huge boxes to clear out their lockers for the ‘two-week holiday’. This picture encapsulates the panic and stress that schools experienced the day that Covid officially affected the country on a wide scale.
Image 2) Last minute beach trip
At this point in time, schools and colleges had closed but there was no word of a lockdown yet – everybody was just trying their best to keep their distance whilst waiting impatiently for what was to come. My brother had just finished moving home from college in Limerick for the foreseeable future, and we were already beginning to get bored of being home together all day. My mother loves the beach and is always looking for excuses to travel to a beach and breathe in the sea air, so we decided to make a last-minute trip to Fanore Beach in Co. Clare as we had not been restricted distance-wise yet. My family and I have many amazing memories of camping in Fanore, so travelling there and not knowing when we would be able to go again was an emotional experience. The atmosphere created in this picture was everything we needed to experience at the time – peace, quiet and calmness.
Image 3) Quarantine all-nighters
I took this photo from my bedroom window during the height of lockdown in April 2020. At this point, I had gotten into the habit of not sleeping until 7am and waking up at 3pm. I had not seen anyone physically other than my family and my nana, who we visited from our car. I was quite content during this time – I had been having problems with classmates in school and was glad to be spending time away from that toxic environment, I was spending a lot of time with my brother (who I did not see that often beforehand due to his attendance in college) and my dog, and I was also discovering more hobbies, like fitness and exercise. I took this photo and have decided to include it in this gallery as it shows the peaceful time that many people did not know they needed – a chance to reflect on the crazy life we are used to and take a step back from the stresses of usual life.
Image 4) Attention for the doggo!
One positive of the lockdown experience was, as I have said previously, spending time with my family (whilst trying not to get sick of one another!) and creating memories together. This photo was taken by my mother, who was (and still is) a frontline worker and would sometimes come home from work stressed after a frightening day in a strange atmosphere. Our little dog is called Alvin, and even though this cute Bichon Frise may be wild and child-like, he was eleven years old at the time this photo was taken! It may be hard to admit, but before lockdown we did not give Alvin as much love as he deserves. Between work, school and college, our lives were becoming increasingly busier which meant that Alvin was often left to entertain himself. During quarantine, we realised that we were not being the best parents to our favourite little furball, and this photo shows our effort to include him in our family activities. Lockdown may have been scary, but it made me realise who really matters. Alvin is now as happy as ever!
Image 5: Green fingers and paint rollers
One thing that kept my family and I occupied during lockdown was decorating our back garden. It was also a really nice bonding experience to make the garden nice to sit out in, as the weather was beginning to improve and the days were becoming longer. Usually, my mam would just buy new pots already planted each year, which would lead to plastic waste and too many unused pots lying around. This time, as we had the spare time to put more effort into our garden, we decided to sow plants in the empty pots ourselves, and this was the result! We also painted the walls and patio area to completely redecorate the area we love to socialise in. As summer was approaching and lockdown was still looming, it was nice to create positivity in the form of a good makeover.
We can all agree that lockdown was frightening and an overall terrifying experience, but it is true that you need to appreciate the positives in dark times. Yes, we may have not been able to see our friends or socialise, but we created memories with our families, discovered new hobbies, took some relaxing time and overall learned to appreciate the little things. ‘The Chronicles of Covid-19' really emphasise how, even in dark times, humanity shines bright.
- Creator
- Lauran Murphy
- Date
- March 2020 - April 2021
- Rights
- Cork Folklore Project
- Publisher
- Cork Folklore Project
- Item sets
- Photo Essays
