Monica Rivera Zuñiga, 36, waits in hopes to get a customer to serenade and earn a bit of money. The pandemic has taken a hard hit on the mariachi community who are not considered essential workers and so receive no help from the government.
She is a mother of two children and third generation mariachi musician. Her mother, who she lives with, is a nurse and has warned her to stay home. “I stayed home for two weeks, but saw all of my colleagues were still going out and decided the income was worth the risk.”

A cheeky and colorful image jumps out at the viewer with the playfully fonted message, that as the pandemic continues, we must pay attention to what and how we touch the things around us, and in particular how we touch our faces after interacting in the world.

Black Lives Matter Plaza, Washington DC, USA. June 6, 2020.
During one particular march, I encountered a father carrying his young daughter on his shoulders. A short conversation with Jamaal revealed the reason he brought his daughter out that afternoon: If he, her own father, couldn’t stand up and make his voice heard and fight for his daughter, how could he expect the nation to do so for other Black women? In the days following the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd, people in cities across the United States took to the streets to make their voices heard. As a Washington DC based photographer, I did the same—both to protest as well as to photograph the various, peaceful gatherings and marches in the nation’s capital.

Johannesburg, South Africa. May 13, 2020

Manuel Albert, 23, poses for a portrait on the streets of Bertrams, Johannesburg. After weeks of a strict nationwide military enforced lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19, the South African government started to slowly reopen parts of the economy on May 1, 2020. The economic impact of the virus has been felt across the country and despite rapidly rising cases, for millions of people it's not possible to stay home any longer. In an effort to slow the inevitable spread of the virus as people return to work, the government has required that everyone wears a mask in public.

In South Africa there is a philosophy called Ubuntu which translates to, 'I am because you are.' In other words a person is a person through other people. Coronavirus has made it clearer than ever before that we, as human beings, live collectively. We are fundamentally dependent on one another and the health of a society relies on the wellbeing and safety of everyone in it.

Essentially Invisible
This image is part of a series that is meant to remind us that during a time of hardship, we can root back into basic teachings/messages to find the way forward. They are seeds for well being.

Providence, Rhode Island. September 19, 2013.
"I was taught not to exhibit certain behaviors for fear of being a target. I was taught to love those who were different from me and to celebrate the differences between others and myself. I was taught that life was something sacred, given to us by our Creator and that we have no right to take that away from someone else. As I look at the current state of the world, it saddens me that despite all of these efforts, some still see me and people who look like me as a threat. The cycle of violence and constant disregard for the lives of Black Americans in particular is not only sad, it’s terrifying. No child should have to fear for their life when they come in contact with a police officer. No woman should feel unsafe while sleeping in her own bed. No man should have to fear for his life simply for being pulled over at a traffic stop. It’s devastating, it’s unfair, and it’s wrong,” Jordan McCracken Foster, 18 says. His portrait is part of the series, “The Skin I’m In”, that asks the viewer to consider the dignity of individuals who self-identify as African, African American or from the wider African Diaspora.

One of the many lessons that this current crisis teaches us is that many people we usually consider to be low-skilled are actually critical to the proper functioning of our countries. They are in fact recognized key workers. Unfortunately, many of these people are invisible in our acknowledgements of those on the front lines.

It is both a symbol and a symptom of the blatant inequality that persists in our cities, our countries and throughout the world. In times of crisis, immigrants and minorities are generally the most impacted class of people. The large majority of essential workers cannot afford to stay at home nor use private cars. They are the most vulnerable among us.

Reggio Calabria, Italy.April 10, 2020. My mother prepers cookies for Easter. This project was born from the primary need to pass on to posterity the beautiful love story of my parents. In the days of the pandemic, I felt an urge to testify to their feelings and the breach of oppression due to the closure that I and they experienced. And so day after day I tried to freeze their moments and also their loneliness. Because often these people have no voice, they are part of another generation that will have great difficulties to start again. What will become of their future? There is a strong intention to open everything in September. How will they spend their summer? Generally they are frequenters of a municipal beach with many friends who follow them. How will they spend their time? My father is 85 years old and my mother 83, they have known each other for at least 70 years and have been married since 1957. Will they survive these changes?

Herat, Afghanistan. November 4, 2020. In the female ward of COVID-19 hospital in Herat, each room holds 4 to 6 women. Some have tested positive and others are suspected cases, waiting for their test results. This way, those who are healthy are at high risk of being infected as well. One the male wing however, the positive and suspected cases are strictly kept separated.

New York, NY. March 29, 2020. A view of downtown Manhattan and Chinatown on a foggy, wet day during the Coronavirus lock down. This image is part of a series that was made by the photographer during daily runs around New York City.
In New York, an epicenter of the virus, City, State and National emergency emergencies have been declared. New Yorkers must stay indoors unless exercising or buying supplies. Gatherings of 10 or more have been banned. Restaurants and bars must only serve take out, and companies have closed their offices, sending workers to work from home. Economic reverberations from the virus will be felt for far longer than the virus itself, with the market already having fallen to historic lows since the beginning of the outbreak. Fears of recession are reverberating throughout governments and banks, some of whom have put economy ahead of public health.

It’s a simple piece reflecting on the chaos of 2020 caused by the coronavirus. But the simple message may be that 2020 still remains as a rainbow, even if it is a little tangled right now. This may allude to some the implications of this pandemic on people saying mental health and well being. Like a rainbow, there needs to be rain to see the colours.

On a Sunday afternoon, Christian Torres cooks hamburgers on a Jetboil camping stove in late October 2018.
A new daily routine after the Coronavirus outbreak is cleaning frequently touched surfaces and washing hands as often possible, especially before cooking. Torres designates the front driver seats as “hot spot” inside the vehicle before disinfecting outside items.

Nairobi, Kenya

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