{"id":35601,"date":"2020-10-30T03:42:36","date_gmt":"2020-10-30T10:42:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=35601"},"modified":"2020-11-01T11:32:23","modified_gmt":"2020-11-01T19:32:23","slug":"covid-stories-and-moments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2020\/10\/30\/covid-stories-and-moments\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID stories and moments"},"content":{"rendered":"

(\u201cSkewed Priorities,\u201d photo by Bob Prosser)<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

COVID-19 has upended all of our lives in multiple ways. More people work from home. Self-isolation has become customary. Masks are everywhere. The anxiety and fear of infection have spread as widely as the virus itself. To reflect these and other changes, the Sidney and Gertrude Zack Gallery invited Jewish community members \u2013 not professional artists but lay people \u2013 to share their experiences, thoughts and emotions in both visual and oral formats. The results can be found in the gallery\u2019s current show, What We See: Stories & Moments from the COVID-19 Pandemic.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
\u201cGloves and Masks,\u201d photo by Doris Fiedrich.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The exhibit, which opened Sept. 10, consists of 15 entries. Each entry, submitted by one person, includes a few photos depicting that person\u2019s new reality and a short essay, in which the participant wrote what has touched them most profoundly. As the deadline for the submissions was early July, everything in the show is about the first few months of the pandemic, before we all got more used to it and the new rules of social interaction became the norm.<\/p>\n

Participant Sandra Collet presents her impressions through a poem on the meaning of the current crisis: \u201c\u2026 A time of loneliness \/ A time of LIFE \u2026 A time of sadness \/ A time of hope.\u201d Its last line, \u201cTogether apart,\u201d encapsulates one of the most significant changes wrought by the pandemic.<\/p>\n

Bob Prosser has written about his \u201cordinary experiences\u201d and contemplates the days ahead: \u201c\u2026 my wife sewed masks, we\u2019re growing herbs and vegetables, we have learned to bake bread.\u2026 I\u2019m hopeful but pessimistic about the post-COVID future.\u201d One of the most memorable photographs of the whole show is his: the stockpile of toilet paper in his house.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
\u201cOwl,\u201d photo by Evan Groberman.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For Derry Lubell, the hardest aspect of social distancing is her inability to be with her family, to interact with her grandchildren. Her short essay is almost a lament. She writes, \u201c\u2026 one afternoon, I went to their house and stood on the sidewalk. They all came out onto their front porch.\u2026 I took these shots of our separation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Micah Groberman encountered a different challenge. Before the pandemic, his business was focused on tourism and, like most every other business connected to tourism, it fizzled out due to the global travel and gathering bans. He writes, \u201c\u2026 before COVID, I would walk my sons \u2013 Evan, 8, and Jonas, 5 \u2013 to school and then begin my workday, but suddenly, I became my boys\u2019 teacher.\u201d He admits that he is not too good at math, so he decided to teach his sons about what he knew, instead: photography and nature. His older son\u2019s photographs of wild birds, taken under Groberman\u2019s tutelage and included in the show, prove the father\u2019s talent for teaching. The images are outstanding.<\/p>\n

Paul Steinbok\u2019s photos capture simple, everyday images. In his essay, he expresses sympathy and compassion for those who have suffered from COVID. His own feelings have become more acute, more attuned to the life surrounding him. \u201cThis year,\u201d he writes, \u201cI have observed more closely and photographed the ever-changing colours and textures of spring. In addition, I have photographed some situations that have resulted from the COVID restrictions, such as messages of hope, COVID-style birthday parties and exercise classes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tybie Lipetz, the mother of a 4-year-old daughter, writes about the disappointments young children have faced, the school closures and birthday party cancellations. \u201cLife was turned upside down for the kids,\u201d she notes.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
\u201cDog Scarlett,\u201d photo by Fran Goldberg.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Despite the drawbacks and dangers of COVID, many entries emphasize the authors\u2019 hope and joy. For example, Fran Goldberg, who belongs to the especially vulnerable age group of 70-plus, has found positivity from her family and her dog. She and her children stay in touch by phone daily. \u201cInstead of talking about what I couldn\u2019t do, we started to focus on what I could,\u201d she writes. \u201cFor one thing, I could Zoom with my family.\u2026 I have a dog.\u2026 She is 13 years old and, on our walks, she still takes the time to \u2018smell the roses.\u2019 She and my family have taught me to slow down and appreciate the beauty I see around me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
\u201cBouquet,\u201d photo by Kathy Bilinsky.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kathy Bilinsky also recognizes the beauty around her, however unexpected, and has captured it with her camera. In her essay, she mentions walking around Granville Island, which she did countless times before the pandemic, and notes how, at the pandemic\u2019s onset, everything looked different, abandoned: \u201c\u2026 no vendors, no shoppers, no tourists. It felt surreal\u2026. So many doors that we can\u2019t enter, nor do we want to.\u201d<\/p>\n

In her photos of the closed doors of Granville Island, the familiar noisy streets are almost unrecognizable. Who had ever seen those doors in broad daylight without a crowd in front of them?<\/p>\n

Another of Bilinsky\u2019s photographs is a bouquet on the asphalt, a gift from her children on Mother\u2019s Day: \u201c\u2026 flowers received \u2018socially distanced,\u2019 awkwardly tossed on the parking lot floor.\u2026 We all just stood and stared at them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 15 participants in this unique show offer stories and moments ranging from eerie to prosaic, from heartwarming to poignant, all contributing to this combined slice of memory of the first few months of the pandemic in Vancouver.<\/p>\n

What We See: Stories & Moments from the COVID-19 Pandemic runs until Nov. 10. You can visit the Zack Gallery by appointment or view the show\u2019s digital book at jccgv.com\/art-and-culture\/gallery<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Olga Livshin<\/strong> is a Vancouver freelance writer. She can be reached at olgagodim@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(\u201cSkewed Priorities,\u201d photo by Bob Prosser) COVID-19 has upended all of our lives in multiple ways. More people work from home. Self-isolation has become customary. Masks are everywhere. The anxiety and fear of infection have spread as widely as the virus itself. To reflect these and other changes, the Sidney and Gertrude Zack Gallery invited […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35602,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[989],"tags":[2466,19904,9717,9784,19903,19908,19909,19905,19906,2747,19902,4838,19907,40],"class_list":["post-35601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-visual-arts","tag-art","tag-bob-prosser","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid-19","tag-derry-lubell","tag-fran-goldberg","tag-kathy-bilinsky","tag-micah-groberman","tag-paul-steinbok","tag-photography","tag-sandra-collet","tag-storytelling","tag-tybie-lipetz","tag-zack-gallery"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35601\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}