Year 2020. It’s not even half a year yet but too many unexpected events have already happened. From Amazon Fire late last year to bushfires in Australia this year, US striking attack in Iraq, the unexpected death of Kobe Bryant, and now, it seems that the world is on a standstill because of the Coronavirus Pandemic which now infected over 4,000,000 people (as of May 2020) and still counting from all over the world.
Apart from this unfortunate outbreak, there are for sure many other circumstances all over the world that the international media has left unaccounted. But truly, it is clearly devastating to see how the world is suffering today.
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Many of us did not expect that the COVID-19 would reach us. Many people did not even take it seriously, all until the cities have been locked down and citizens are forced to stay at home, halting all activities, closing businesses temporarily due to this pandemic that has caused more than 130,000 lives and more counting every day. To sum it up, we are all unprepared and we can only depend on our government leaders to handle the situation.
Photographers Amidst Covid-19
Photographers are one of those who are directly affected by this situation. Since events are canceled, it means that a lot of photographers don’t get to work at an uncertain period of time. Landscape photographers can’t go out to see and capture the beauty of nature and our model, newborn, and portrait photographers can’t meet with their clients or models for photography sessions.
With all due respect to thousands of those affected, this is seriously unfortunate. But not everything about all that’s happening is bad. On the bright side, we should take a closer look and change our perspective at things while we have the hour to reflect. There can still be good beyond the distraught like having more time with family and doing the things we never got to do while we were busy. By the moment this is all over, we are more reframed and refocused individuals.
Everyone should be optimistic and take advantage of the situation. Being forced to stay at home does not mean that we should also stop everything we do. We should infect positivity and inspire others with our passion while we can during these times.
Some Inspiration from Expert Photographers
Here are some insightful tips from expert photographers we greatly admire. Like most of us, they are extremely affected by the pandemic but are moved by their depth of desire to share and shed light on what they are experiencing amidst this crisis. Hopefully, with their priceless advice will propel us to move forward.
MeDisProject Photography
Matteo Baldini & Dovilė Bruzaite
Location: Florence, Italy
Photography Niche: Family Photography
Year When Started Your Photography Career: 2009
Website/Online Portfolio: https://www.medisproject.com
Short Bio: Read more
Both having professional background in photojournalism, Matteo and Dovilė became good partners not only in photography but also in marriage. This partnership brought about MeDisProject Photography in 2012 which specializes in family and portrait photography. Since then, their expertise has grown and led them to eventually offer shooting surprise marriage proposals and to document extended family reunions.
THE EFFECTS OF THE PANDEMIC IN THEIR PHOTOGRAPHY CAREER
Q1: How did the pandemic affect your business as a professional photographer?
“As you can see from our website, 99% of our clients are coming from abroad (mainly the US, but also Canada, UK, and Singapore/Hong Kong) so travel bans and quarantine totally blocked our work. Like many colleagues, we had cancellations or delayed sessions. Moreover, we don’t know exactly when we’ll be able to go back to work since lockdown affects basically all our clients’ countries too.”
Q2. How did you manage to deal with the effects?
“We did get a — small — financial help from our government which could continue in April but this is an ever-changing situation. In the meantime, since Italy was the first western country to be seriously hit by the virus, we got many messages from our community of friends and former clients asking about our situation. As a result, we decided to start a photo journal, also to document this historical period and be able to show it to our son in the future. We couldn’t continue to post our former photo sessions as nothing would happen, that wouldn’t be fair and useful to anybody at this moment. Instead, we wanted to find an honest way to communicate with our community and possibly make it grow, so we could bounce back at work when possible.”
Q3. Do you have personal suggestions/tips for photographers who are also affected by this crisis?
“As always, we’d suggest contributing something useful. As photographers, there are many things we can do for others. Shooting free portraits for our neighbors, for instance, as some of our fellows did in the US. Or providing slideshows for our former clients, as we did, uploading them on a Youtube channel. Above all, just try to be positive about your situation.”
Q4. What can you say to inspire and bring hope to other photographers with regards to what’s happening nowadays?
“This pandemic is a great disgrace, and we’ve been personally touched, losing friends and acquaintances. On the other hand, this is also a chance to change things for the better. We’re trying to use this time to learn new skills. And not just about photography like connecting with our peers and to build something for the future, little by little, every day. Embracing uncertainty is the only way to navigate through this, and we’ll make it together. Stay strong, stay positive.”
“This pandemic is a great disgrace, and we’ve been personally touched, losing friends and acquaintances. On the other hand, this is also a chance to change things for the better. We’re trying to use this time to learn new skills.” — Matteo & Dovilė
Francesco Pierini
Location: Italy
Photography Niche: Outdoor Photography
Website/Online Portfolio: https://www.francescopierini.com/
Short Bio: Read more
Francesco Pierini is a professional photographer based in Italy who specializes in travel, adventure, outdoor and extreme photography. He has been traveling to various places around the world and is always on the lookout to capture the most extreme adventures in the most harsh environment. While striving to share his experiences of the wildest places with a lot of people, he hopes to inspire, encourage, explore, and conserve Mother Earth with his vision.
THE EFFECTS OF THE PANDEMIC IN HIS PHOTOGRAPHY CAREER
Q1. How did the pandemic affect your business as a professional photographer?
“As you might know Italy has been seriously affected by COVID-19 and like everyone, we are all locked down in our homes. For a nature fanatic like me, there is nothing worse than staying close to my house 24/7.”
Q2. How did you manage to deal with the effects?
“Few weeks before the lockdown I was exploring raw, wild, and open spaces around the globe while trying to capture the essence of these untouched places to put into films and frames. Now, it has been more than a month that I couldn’t keep doing what I used to do before. But this doesn’t mean that our creative minds have to shut down and stop working.”
Q3. Do you have personal suggestions/tips for photographers who are also affected by this crisis?
“Like during my workshops, I like to tell photographers that we have the most creative minds and that inconstant challenge. As strange as it may seem, your creativity is affected by everything that is surrounding you. Other people, loved ones, the environment, lights, and even your own thoughts drastically shape your own style. So what I would suggest, is for you to start a dialogue within yourself. Who am I? Where will I see myself in 5 years’ time? What is the route I’ll take to achieve my goals? Me, like many photographers out there that travel often, we don’t have that time to reflect on these topics but we keep surfing the wave where we are on without having some period of low tide and reflect on which is going to be the next wave to surf.”
Q4. What can you say to inspire and bring hope to other photographers with regards to what’s happening nowadays?
“Many people know me because I spent most of my time exploring raw places that are really difficult to reach. And organize a photoshoot on environments where weather often is extreme. This is a cue to all those photographers that have always been willing to explore the outdoor environment. Embracing extreme photo expeditions around the world means months of planning, days spent in front of your computer searching for the best spots, and days after days of searching and accurate planning.
“Now, it has been more than a month that I couldn’t keep doing what I used to do before. But this doesn’t mean that our creative minds have to shut down and stop working.”
-Francesco Pierini
So basically, this is what I am doing during these days of quarantine, day after day. Photographers have each unique creative style that can’t be locked down. In fact, each time we get outdoors to find new inspirational shoots, we already have that picture in our imagination. We try to bring to reality what takes life into our minds driven by the feelings we own. Finally, make sure to be comfortable and make use of your current environment and don’t get scared. So that it will not affect your creativity.
If you are intrigued by what the job of an adventure photographer, I would suggest you watch the trailer of my last movie:https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2FNjyzXqm54mo%3Ffeature%3Doembed&display_name=YouTube&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DNjyzXqm54mo&image=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FNjyzXqm54mo%2Fhqdefault.jpg&key=a19fcc184b9711e1b4764040d3dc5c07&type=text%2Fhtml&schema=youtube
I hope I’ve spread some inspiration to you guys and I always say don’t forget to stay on the road to inspiration!”
Haute MICE Studios
Kendall-Kinmiar Cunningham
Location: Chicago, IL USA
Photography Niche: Fashion, Lifestyle and Branding for E-Commerce businesses
Year When Started Your Photography Career: A little over 2 years
Website/Online Portfolio: www.hautemicestudios.com
Short Bio: Read more
Driven by her love to create, Kendall found a new passion for photography. Photography was a hobby for her at first and just a means to capture images. She attended events to provide materials for her blog at the time and would borrow a camera from her friends to cover these events. Being naturally artistic, she is interested in fashion in general and has been shooting studio fashion and street photography ever since. So, fast forward to 2020, she now owns a studio in Chicago she provides photography services to an array of entrepreneurial businesses locally.
THE EFFECTS OF THE PANDEMIC IN HER PHOTOGRAPHY CAREER
Q1: How did the pandemic affect your business as a professional photographer?
“The pandemic definitely slowed a lot of my business down. Several project cancellations and a couple of photography trips have been postponed. So needless to say income is low.”
Q2: How did you manage to deal with the effects?
“I am simply doing damage control from my canceled or postponed projects. Also trying to determine what I can do to generate income if circumstances won’t allow us to get back to normal quickly. Engage more on social media to keep you following active with you since you may not have fresh new content to share.”
Q3. Do you have personal suggestions/tips for photographers who are also affected by this crisis?
“I’d say during this time we all can try to improve on our craft with the extra free time (watch videos to improve editing and lighting) and also get caught up on edits (at least that’s what I have been doing.).”
Q4:What can you say to inspire and bring hope to other photographers with regards to what’s happening nowadays?
“I’d say to stay positive, this won’t last forever. Work on being prepared for when it’s over so you can recover quickly. Use this time to get better and improve on things you didn’t have time to focus on previously. Like retouching or any other skill you’d normally out-source.”
“I’d say to stay positive, this won’t last forever. Work on being prepared for when it’s over so you can recover quickly.” — Haute MICE Studios
Stay Home. Be Safe. Save Lives.
As COVID-19 continues to impact communities around the world, help stop the spread by staying at home.
Surely, we cannot do anything about what’s inevitable but always have a choice on the things that we can grasp. Do something constructive and continue to be proactive.
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