May We Live In Interesting Times Gordon Hight

from April 2020 Gallup Journey Magazine

by Gallup Journey

Walking In Beauty Katie Sharpton

Bombay Beach, California

Dance Hall, Kerrville, Texas

Fireworks stand in rural east Texas

I-10 Arizona

US 98, Mississippi

May We Live In Interesting Times

By Gordon Hight

Well, that escalated quickly.

In my first installment for the February issue, I wrote that I’d chosen to document this time in history because 2020 seemed poised to be an interesting year. It has certainly delivered beyond my expectations, even giving us new terminology like social distancing and flattening the curve. So long as we’re in this challenging and scary place in time, let me take a moment to offer my sincere hope that these words find you doing well, staying safe, and sheltering in place. The irony of writing for a travel magazine at a time when most travel has slowed to all but a halt is not lost on me, but I’m grateful for the opportunity I’ve been given and it’s important to keep doing what we can as we wait for the return of normalcy.

Like our lives at the moment, my book project is on hold. The home-sale funds I’d set aside to finance this yearlong journey were not unaffected by the economic downturn. I wrote in February that I sensed a correction was coming, but I didn’t manage to get out of the way of the pandemic train. The future has grown increasingly uncertain and the present finds each of us being called to do our part by isolating the best we can. Together those realities pose obvious challenges to crosscountry photojournalism. The need to work to make a living during these shaky economic times isn’t lost on me, but the choice I’ve made is to hunker down for now and do what I can to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. But I’m healthy. I have my

dog. And summer, my favorite season, is on the way.

For good reason, but also to the project’s detriment, active photo-making has taken a backseat to social distancing. Besides walking my dog, I’ve only left the house once in the last week. I’m working on ways to photograph life during the pandemic, but social responsibility comes first. Taking portraits in crowded places and interacting with people just isn’t smart business right now. While insignificant in the greater scheme, part of the personal cost is not being able to do the things I love. I know I’m not the only one. The takeaway then, must be a renewed commitment to those things and the people dear to us as we walk into the clear that inevitably will come.

Cautious restraint hasn’t stopped me from seeing photos I’d like to make. Walking down plundered aisles in the grocery store this morning, I had a brief chuckle at the stacks of vegan lasagna sitting alone in an otherwise empty freezer case that no one seemed to want, not even during a pandemic-induced food shortage. Perhaps a good time for those vendors to reevaluate their product mix, it made me consider the importance of paying closer attention to the patterns of my life and whether my habits are preparing me for a future that I’ll be happy with. Self-focus is one of the few things that’s more possible now and must be part of what we reclaim, particularly at a time when there’s little else we can control.

So, let us ponder life’s great questions in the months ahead as we collectively press the pause button. I promise I’ll remain committed to telling the story of 2020 the best way I can, all the while respecting others’ health and well-being. We truly are in this together. It won’t be our last global challenge, but if we’re willing to learn from it, maybe we’ll emerge better prepared to tackle whatever comes next.

For now, I’ll sign off and leave you with a collection of images that I shot on the late-February drive from California back to Georgia. I’m eager to see where we are in a month and I hope we’ll meet together again. Until then, be well.