“THE GREAT SLOWDOWN”
when the world paused.
“IS THERE A BEAUTY WITHOUT HUMAN INTERACTION”
Important question? equally important is for us to redefine our time on this planet we call ourselves home ……….
The creative tribe of the world always tried to explore and capture the moments through their art forms to express the good, bad and the worst time of the civilization. How can we forget the images of concentration camps, the cry of the Vietnam war and also the celebration of the breaking of berlin Wall or the protest at Tiananmen Square? These are moments in our history which are either photographed, filmed, painted, sculpted to remember those time and emotions for the future to see and resonate to….
When the present viral influence has negatively engulfed the global life and a calamity which is questioning the existence of the human survival, every part of the globe is scared, worried and questioning silently ……………. Where have we come to ………..
Vulnerability is a very ghostly expression. The emptiness of life is reflected there and we pause a bit to understand.
It’s a time in our history to look at our priorities and define our shared collective responsibility.
New York Times asked their photographers to be at the most celebrated places of human interaction and capture the moments of today which will be remembered for years when we rewrite our ways of life.
These images of once-bustling public plazas, beaches, fairgrounds, restaurants, movie theatres, tourist meccas and train stations now tell us a different story. A story of realisation.
We are free to interpret these images in our own ways but one thing will never change that the world will never the same again. The shifting priorities of human existence after the eclipse of lockdown will truly define the future of ours.
Till then enjoy/ reflect on these images.
While I am looking at the same now I see that beauty always needs human interaction and romancing with the ruins is a fantasy, not life.
These images make me hopeful to overcome the time we are passing through and when the emptiness trumpets an existence, divorced from human habitation and the messy thrum of daily life, we promise to come back and celebrate humanity with a more humble approach.
[ copyright of all the images are with the New York Times and the respective photographers ]
