Creativity and Quarantine – Possibilities of Fusion in Photography

The image you see on top is of my living area at 11.53 pm on Saturday the 28th of March 2020

A chance conversation with a friend who lives in an upscale place in Mumbai sparked an idea for me. We were talking about her help having to go home to a small ‘kholi‘ measuring all of 6×6 feet where seven members have to stay together during this 21 day lock down in India.  That is seven members who ordinarily would almost never be in the same 6×6 feet space at the same time. That’s in-laws, husband, children, possibly a younger brother or sister or even an ailing grandparent.

Imagine documenting forced confinement from the same camera angle/ point of view twice a day, everyday for 21 days. And then contrast that with where you and I – the privileged live. Same thing from the same camera angle twice a day for 21 days. It would be a sociological snapshot of India in 2020 during what is an unprecedented time in history.

I had done an experiment some years ago about documenting my emotions for a month in a single word at the end of the day to describe my day as well as a phrase written three times a day for a month. The only difference was that the colour used changed based on my emotion. The results I can assure you were absolutely unexpected for me.

What if we try the same? Document your house or your living space, the one that gets maximum traffic everyday. Document what you see once or twice a day. If possible at exactly the same time without asking anyone to move or do anything specific, no beautifying at all. Just document the image you see from the same vantage point day in and day out for 21 days. Document even if the room lies empty at that given time.

It would be a sociological photo dairy into the lives of many across a very difficult time. It will end up being a study in contrasts for sure. Especially if you take a 6×6 feet kholi and a four bedroom house with a living room which is say 20×15 feet. But I think the human emotion at the end of 21 days will be the same. The emotional, mental and physical exhaustion will show in time. By day 15 the way a person sits at the table will change, even if the person has sat at that very same table every day for 21 days and at the same time.

Share your images with me on [email protected] with your name, time, date, geographical location and your vantage location as well.
I will then stitch them all together and put them out. With all creative credit to you of course.
OR
Just start a public album on your personal or professional Facebook pages tiles ‘My Locked Down View’. Add your pictures daily with your name, time, date, geographical location and your vantage location clearly mentioned on each photograph. You can also share them on your Instagram handles. I ask that you tag them with #mylockeddownview #artbyaarohi #thefusionprojects and #aarohisingh. This mainly so all the stories/photography/poetry is is searchable under one set of tags.

Please do share these with me as well so I may share them further through my pages and social media handles and my website as well.

Please do see the previous post as well to get a perspective on other options and possibilities.

Note – This edition of ‘The Fusion Projects’ is an attempt to get everyone to collaborate at this time of lockdown. It does not have to have me – Aarohi Singh or even ‘ArtbyAarohi’ as an integral part of the fusion. It’s hoping to use creativity to get through this difficult time.