Jeffrey H. Loria - Silent Cities: Portraits of a Pandemic: 15 Cities Across the World

INTRODUCTION

Every City Had a Story to Tell

There is a spontaneity that pulsates through the vibrant cultures of the many profound cities of the world. But unexpectedly, in early February of 2020, and without warning, a worldwide, fast-moving pandemic originating in China had us all suddenly grasping with uncertainty. It spread quickly across the globe, affecting and infecting people in almost 200 countries. Thirty days prior, conjuring up images of a hidden and frightened world was not even a remote thought to most of us. This book attempts to capture life in fifteen cities on four continents with fresh and penetrating eyes, the truth and authenticity of the percolating fears and vulnerabilities we all felt during the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.

Due to unprecedented lockdowns, we were unable to see for ourselves how the pandemic was affecting our own city, let alone travel to see the realities of others around the world. No one likes having time to think about mortality, especially when you truly appreciate all life has to offerall the color and vibrancy that electrifies the world. So I turned to my many colleagues in cities across the globe, all especially talented and curious artists and photographers. They were asked to capture what their cities were like so we could witness and forever remember this extraordinary and epoch-making pause between the normal lives of people in these cities that soon turned into an abandoned year. They photographed the cities they call home, the same places many of us have visited, celebrating wonderful experiences unique to the cities and customs of each of them.

We all have memories of the scenes of life and activities in the cities weve seen, or keep hopeful images of places wed still like to go. But, in the photographs depicted in this book, the rhythm of each metropolis was put on ice. From the iconic Times Square in New York City to Piccadilly Circus in London, to the venerable Champs-lyses in Paris and the Spanish Steps in Rome, no one can recall the emptiness, devoid of the frenetic activity of the moments we kept in our memories. Instead these cities were closed, and what we saw was an emotional and physical paralysis. It was a world without smiles because there was no one around to offer one.

Implicit in these photographs is more than an absence of people. New York, Paris, and Tokyo, as daily life closed down, became places of extreme vulnerability, their residents faces hidden by masks to be worn into the foreseeable future.