11 minute read
Sheltered in Place Gordon Hight
By Gordon Hight
I took my dog for a walk again today. It’s about the only thing I do anymore to get out of the house. We’ve established a mile-and-a-half loop through our neighborhood that sits directly on the east side of downtown. The first leg runs north along the river until the westward turn by the local newspaper building; left again up the hill, then down past churches of every denomination. It takes just under half an hour to complete and rain or shine, stands out as the best part of each day.
Today makes thirty-eight days sheltered in place here in Georgia. My home county saw some of the very first coronavirus cases in the state, which resulted in stay at home orders well before our governor ultimately acted. In the days following those orders, I thought I’d see a drastic reduction in downtown activity on my daily walk. I thought the resulting desolation might provide an occasion to shoot a few photographs to make some sort of progress on this otherwise stalled book project. I’d come to terms with the book having to take on an increasingly local focus, but what I observed
Sheltered In Place changed my mind about it’s viability altogether. Despite the ordered shutdown, I found a town seemingly uninterrupted as if all were business as usual. Closed churches and curbside service signs by downtown restaurants were the only indicators of life altered. Cars still filled the roadways and downtown parking spaces, and pedestrians, perhaps piqued by growing curiosity, gathered closely to talk on sidewalks. It’s not for me to judge who’s right and wrong when it comes to federal, state, and local pandemic responses and the public behavior that results from them, but being out and about has felt less safe, a feeling not helped by those various government bodies’ inability to act in concert. Out of growing concern, I’ve opted for restaurant take-out and farmers’ market produce instead of tripping to the already overwhelmed grocery store. In fact, it’s been almost three weeks since I last went. To some this might seem like an overreaction, but my father is in his seventies and I’m the one who gets him all his food. It feels much wiser to stay home than take unnecessary risks. Given the unknown duration of the pandemic and its possible resurgence when shelter in place orders are
relaxed, I’ve finally arrived at the difficult decision to cancel my book project. When it’s deemed safe, I may venture to other parts of Georgia and possibly cross over into adjoining states, but it just doesn’t seem prudent to visit the remaining thirty-seven states I was planning to photograph. As much as there is to be documented, removing myself and my family from spreading the virus feels like the best contribution I can make for now. It’s a disappointment for sure, and it saddens me to have to sign off to this audience, to whom I remain grateful for the interest you’ve shown in my work.
All in all, however, I feel very fortunate. I have my health and my dad does too. And while it feels like there’s not much I can do to help others, since doing so generally requires sharing a close proximity, I’m trying to come to peace with the truth that staying home really does make a difference. My heart hurts for those who’ve been directly impacted by the disease, for those who’ve lost family members, and for those who are struggling in uncertain economic times. For my small part, I’m trying to be thoughtful in the consumption choices I do make, how to support the local sources of food I rely upon, how to be resourceful with what is available, and how, one day, my photographs and words might be able to tell the story of the rebuilding when it becomes safe to do so.
One hundred years ago, presidential candidate Warren Harding offered the following sentiments during his campaign that came immediately on the heels of the Spanish Flu pandemic and World War I: “America's present need,” he said, “is not heroics, but healing; not nostrums, but normalcy; not revolution, but restoration; not agitation, but adjustment; not surgery, but serenity; not the dramatic, but the dispassionate; not experiment, but equipoise; not submergence in internationality, but sustainment in triumphant nationality.”
While Harding’s presidency is remembered more for the corruption it enabled (see Teapot Dome Scandal), his words do merit mention for the spirit of the times they captured. And if nothing else, his call for healing and restoration and normalcy are welcomed echoes these days.
Like all great challenges that present themselves, this too shall pass. And when it does, it will be up to all of us to use what we’ve learned to make the wisest possible choices for making the new world what we want it to be. I hope we will become more discerning about what we listen to—that we’ll let the tired voices of those solely intent on laying blame to be drowned out by the realization that real leadership exists in those who silently do their work. I hope we’ll lean on truth, on science, and on a deeply felt sense that we really are in this together as the guideposts that mark the road ahead. Thank you again for the kindness of your attention here and to each of you I say, see you on the other side and Godspeed.
Gordon Hight is an America-based photographer and writer. His work can be found @americain2020 and @ flycaster1 on Instagram.
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