The Corona Virus pandemic has basically stopped the world. This very nasty and ridiculously infectious horror of nature combined with the human race doing the wrong things, has created death, infection and quarantining of virtually the entire planet and has had a profound impact on how people earn a living. My colleagues who shoot weddings, sports, news and social photography etc. are seriously struggling. However, I'm not so affected, apart from the fact that as a supplier to the travel industry, the fact that there isn't such a thing anymore means my sales are dropping.
Fortunately I can still get out to shoot pictures. Living in the UK this means that I was limited to one exercise period per day which was shorter than I would like and I couldn't go anywhere other than my local area. Things have eased up a little in the last few days, but any rise in infections means that may be scaled back again.
I am pleased that I can do that because, due to the improvement in air quality because of the mass shutdown and much lower numbers of cars on the roads, the light has been fantastic. Dazzling sunlight has now become a normal occurrence and this has combined with a very sunny spring to produce ideal shooting conditions.
Of course I am working in a very limited geographic area, but I am fortunate to have a lot of photogenic opportunities close to where I live. So I'm still getting good images. However, I am concerned as to what might happen if and when we get back to what was considered to be 'normal'. Will there still be a travel trade? Will there be as many tourists as before? Will people still come and visit the UK from the US, Europe and the Far East? I do have a good selection of European images but the bulk of my stock is from the UK. Much of it classic British landscape and historic buildings. So as you can see I am dependent on people still continuing to visit the places I photograph, either from within the country or from abroad.
Now I'm not going to be living in a cardboard box anytime soon as my wife and I are financially secure, but I may well have to get used to a lower standard of living. There are after all other considerations. As a 71 year old diabetic I have to be very careful about social distancing and many people of my age have tragically lost their lives. My age and medical issues have been kept at a distance because I am reasonably fit and can still walk a decent distance carrying heavy photographic gear however.
Hopefully medical science will come up with a vaccine and all of the depressing forecasts I outlined above may not come to pass. But if and when that does happen I am living one day at a time. Grateful that I haven't been infected, grateful that I can still do what I love and grateful that nature seems to be happy that we have stopped bombarding it with so many toxic chemicals. I am also pleased that the British people seem to have adopted a serious attitude to all of this and the fact that, finally, the people who really keep the country going, the NHS, delivery drivers, postmen, dustmen, internet engineers and the many others who put their lives on the line every day are being appreciated. Hopefully their salaries and working conditions, which have been shamefully ignored over the past few years, will be adjusted upwards to reflect their true worth.
I like the rest of the world have no idea what the future holds. But I feel incredibly lucky that I can still do my job and indulge my passion for photography. I am realistic enough to understand that may not last and we still have a long way to go. Hopefully the future will be one of real change and not one of tragedy. Whatever the outcome, however, it seems things will never be the same again. Whether that is a good or bad thing only time will tell.
