Van handen wassen naar handen schudden

text and photography Hildegard Hick

When Hildegard Hick’s first photo book, Sitlstaan en doorgaan - het virus versus Eindhoven, ‘Corona’ seemed almost under control. Shops with a ‘closed’ sign finally opened their doors, terraces were allowed to be visited, hairdressers could cut again. Vaccines were being developed.

However, the road to the ‘new normal’ was not yet completely paved. At the end of December 2020, the second lockdown in the Netherlands was a fact and everything was being locked again. Various sectors had a hard time, because of strict measures that remained in force and new measures were introduced. This led to layoffs and even bankruptcies in various sectors. No theatre, museum or cinema visits, no events, food and drinks were only allowed on the terrace at a sufficient distance, no audience at sporting events, no holidays abroad. Mouth caps were mandatory, ‘get vaccinated’, curfew, keep one and a half meters away, no shaking hands and no hugs.

“Let’s do it together”, we said during the first lockdown. This took on a different meaning during the second lockdown. Agitation arose, the atmosphere grew grim and led to demonstrations and even riots of unprecedented proportions.

Because many people were vaccinated, the number of infections decreased. In September 2021, a large number of measures were eased, bringing us closer to our ‘old normal’. The most important measure, one and a half meters away, was cancelled! From washing hands, now to shaking hands and even a hug!

Dutch

format 170 x 240 mm size 136 pages softcover design Hildegard Hick release November NUR 653 ISBN 978-94-6226-430-4 € 20,00