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DIARY OF A PANDEMIC. BY MAGNUM PHOTOGRAPHERS

The COVID-19 outbreak has seen most Magnum photographers restricted in their movements. As part of an ongoing photographer-led initiative, Magnum photographers are sharing information, updates, and new work made in these strange and difficult times.

Over coming weeks, they’ll be featuring edits of these images, selected by project leader Peter van Agtmael, alongside personal notes and reflections from Magnum photographers on how they are experiencing the unfolding situation.

Van Agtmael’s selections will also include images incorporated into the ongoing collaboration between Magnum Photos and National Geographic which will bring readers a global look at how coronavirus is impacting the worlds these photographers see inside—and just outside—their windows.

New work on the crisis will be shared daily through Magnum Photos’ Instagram feed and Instagram Stories takeovers. Here is our selection –so far.

Cristina de Middel

Salvador, Brazil. March 22, 2020.

“It’s just been 4 days since all this started in a more serious way here in Brazil. At home we are normally isolated because we live surrounded by the jungle so it is difficult to measure the impact of the curfew. We don’t see anyone anyway… The sounds of the forest are quite relaxing and it is a crazy contrast to follow the news and to look through the window, so I go from total stress to almost levitation.

I spend the day looking at the news and also looking for animals. I like the idea of being an explorer at home. Today the gangs in Brazil have announced a curfew in some favelas in Rio de Janeiro. The message people are receiving by Whatsapp is: ‘We want the best for the population. If the Government is not capable of finding a way, organized crime will take care of it’. It is always difficult to identify the ‘good guys” around here. They also say that ‘Those who are seen in the streets after 20h will learn how to respect the others’.”

Rafal Milach

Warsaw, Poland. March 27, 2020.

“Portrait of the family on quarantine.”

Nanna Heitmann

Moscow, Russia. March 14, 2020.

“Corona Virus Auto-Quarantine”

Larry Towell

Ontario, Canada. March 13, 2020.

“I decided that now was a good time to dig into editing my Ukraine book, a project I’d begun with the 2014 Maidan uprising. Ukraine has a long and complicated history which I’ve been struggling to visually resolve. It’s a bit like assembling a jigsaw puzzle with a blind fold on, which is why my studio looks like I just emptied a 1,000-piece puzzle everywhere.”

Jonas Bendiksen

Norway, 2020.

“This quarantine feeling of standstill and peace is elusive here… Time to reflect and step out of the hustle and bustle… But instead, full-time in wonderful but nonstop 2-4 year old world, cleaning Legos, making lunches, running outside, etc, etc.”

Mark Power

“Our 17-year old son, Milligan, is going stir-crazy already… Our gentle suggestions to use the time to tidy his room have fallen on deaf ears. But at least he has his music, and for much of the day our house is filled with piano, drums and marimba. In this respect at least, we’re very lucky.”

Peter van Agtmael

“A few months ago I paid casual attention to what was going on in Wuhan. It seemed very far away. In the past week it’s really begun to sink in that this could become a civilizational catastrophe.”

Olivia Arthur

London, GB, 2020.

“Photographs of Mother’s day flowers taken around 10 am every day between March 23, 2020 and April 6, 2020.”

Alex Majoli

Reggio Emilia. Italy. March 2nd, 2020.

COVID-19 crisis. Cleaning beds in Reggio Emilia hospital.

Alessandra Sanguinetti

Santa Rosa, California. USA. March 6, 2020.

“My daughter Catalina misses her friends very much, so we did the rounds in our car and visited her best friends from far way. Here she’s breaking the rules and touching fingertips with her best friend Avery.”

Lorenzo Meloni

Brescia. Italy. March 16, 2020.

“Spedali Civili. Unit specialized in COVID-19, operates in an area specially built with tents and in the underground of the Hospital to receive infected patients.”

Cristina García Rodero

Madrid. Spain. April 8, 2020.

“Every day at 8 in the afternoon the balconies are filled to applaud the health workers for their courage, devotion and dedication so that there is hope of saving lives.”

Patrick Zachmann

Chevilly Larue, France. April 7, 2020.

“Society SAPI, belonging to ‘Artisans du Funéraire’ where 15 people work to prepare the coffins before being delivered to the place where the person died. During this time of COVID-19, they double the number of coffins per day: from usually around 75 per day to 150 as of mid-March.”