- Location
- Helsinki, Finland
Should have got closer”THIS PLACE IS MINE, GET THE ..LL OUT OF THERE!!!”
View attachment 217819
Df+Nikkor-S Auto 50mm f/1.4
Day 7 Outtakes: Shopping at Trader Joe's
Had to drive to the local Trader Joe's market to do some shopping. They are extraordinarily organized for maintaining and enforcing social distancing in this new Normal of the post-Pandemic world, at least here in Oregon. I started out outside the store, waiting in a longish line (only a specified small number of shoppers are allowed inside the store together at any given time: to enter one must wait until someone else exits first). One of the Trader Joe employees with a philosophical sense of humor had written messages at the lines of demarcation outside, starting with THE WAIT WILL BE WORTH IT--
View attachment 217901
Then came this age-old quasi spiritual-slash-philosophical reassurance---
View attachment 217903
Followed by a more here-and-now reflection, since everyone in line was here for, presumably, the same reason: to stock up on food.
View attachment 217904
And since there were and are so many worried faces everywhere, even if you can't see them clearly behind the masks everyone is now wearing, came this---
View attachment 217905
And then a Zen-like positive reaffirmation of....well, of everyone's presence and existence---
View attachment 217906
Then, finally, I was at the front of the Outside-Line---
View attachment 217907
It was a longish wait by the way - you get the feeling you are both extremely alone - but also that there is a strange sense of togetherness---
View attachment 217909
And there was a friendly employee at the front door, now tasked with the not enviable job of making sure that everyone did what they were supposed to, kept their distances, and waited there turn. He was friendly and upbeat, giving a moment of humanity to the whole process.
View attachment 217908
Then I went in and busied myself with trying to do my shopping and also trying, impossibly, to maintain a 6 foot distance from all the other shoppers who had made it Inside, to the Sanctum Sanctorum, something which (maintaining that roughly 2 meter distance at all times) is virtually impossible. Finally, at long last, I was at the checkout counter - a shorter wait this time, but once again taking care to stand in the prescribed and labeled spots, in front of the cashier I had randomly chosen -
View attachment 217910
Then, finally, I could advance to the next flower-bedecked stopping-Circle - at a prodent distance from the checkout station where my checker was now bagging my purchases with studious efficiency. I tried to imagine how I would feel if I were in his place, bagging groceries for masked customers who stare at me from a distance. I couldn't quite do it. But I thanked him.
View attachment 217911
Then I turned around and looked at a similar scene being repeated at another, nearby (but not too near!) checkout spot. My checker was wearing protective plastic gloves but the neighboring gentleman was not, and there was a tiny part of me feeling relief at this, and another tiny part of me feeling terrible for feeling that, and remembering the serious advice of friends who suggested phoning one's orders in and doing curbside pickup so as to minimize the risks of person-to-person contact with strangers. An idea which I initially rejected out-of-hand, so to speak, but then you have these moments where all of a sudden you stop and ask yourself - are you doing the right thing? are you crazy? should you even be here?
View attachment 217912
And then it was done. My groceries bagged and paid for - via the conveniently located credit-card terminal located at a prudent distance between checker and shopper - and I was ready to return to my car and then back home where, like pretty much everyone else I know, the only other people I see are those glimpsed through my windows, as they walk by, many of them with their dogs, most of which bark like maniacs when they near my house (why, I wonder? what do dogs know that I don't?).
My last view before leaving pretty much encapsulates my overriding sense - of being together with others - but each of us carefully and protectively alone---
View attachment 217914
These aren't just challenging times because of the risk of infection (and, in the last few days, two friends, one halfway across the country, the other, nearly a continent away, have both spoken of friends, or friends of friends, who have died - which makes it all so much more real, for me at least) - but because of how it makes us see people - and react to 'others'. And when I say 'make us', I really mean makes me ... which is weird.
I know it's a cliché, but stay safe everyone - and remember to touch base with those you care about. It may help keep a person sane.
Wow, Miguel, thanks for this awesome record of the times. It's a powerful one for me because I have shopped at that Trader Joe's many times - being from Bandon we are three hours plus from a TJ's whether we pick Eugene or Medford, but we love the store and it has been a part of my life since childhood down in SoCal. We went to Eugene in March, before the executive order and when stores were literally just starting to get cleaned out, and did several month's worth of staple shopping at Trader's. The shelves were starting to go bare literally as we shopped. I could hear the mix of humor and growing uncertainty in the way the crew talked to one another. It really brings the style of documentation that you shot these in home to see it from a store that I'm personally so familiar with.Day 7 Outtakes: Shopping at Trader Joe's
Had to drive to the local Trader Joe's market to do some shopping. They are extraordinarily organized for maintaining and enforcing social distancing in this new Normal of the post-Pandemic world, at least here in Oregon. I started out outside the store, waiting in a longish line (only a specified small number of shoppers are allowed inside the store together at any given time: to enter one must wait until someone else exits first). One of the Trader Joe employees with a philosophical sense of humor had written messages at the lines of demarcation outside, starting with THE WAIT WILL BE WORTH IT--
View attachment 217901
Then came this age-old quasi spiritual-slash-philosophical reassurance---
View attachment 217903
Followed by a more here-and-now reflection, since everyone in line was here for, presumably, the same reason: to stock up on food.
View attachment 217904
And since there were and are so many worried faces everywhere, even if you can't see them clearly behind the masks everyone is now wearing, came this---
View attachment 217905
And then a Zen-like positive reaffirmation of....well, of everyone's presence and existence---
View attachment 217906
Then, finally, I was at the front of the Outside-Line---
View attachment 217907
It was a longish wait by the way - you get the feeling you are both extremely alone - but also that there is a strange sense of togetherness---
View attachment 217909
And there was a friendly employee at the front door, now tasked with the not enviable job of making sure that everyone did what they were supposed to, kept their distances, and waited there turn. He was friendly and upbeat, giving a moment of humanity to the whole process.
View attachment 217908
Then I went in and busied myself with trying to do my shopping and also trying, impossibly, to maintain a 6 foot distance from all the other shoppers who had made it Inside, to the Sanctum Sanctorum, something which (maintaining that roughly 2 meter distance at all times) is virtually impossible. Finally, at long last, I was at the checkout counter - a shorter wait this time, but once again taking care to stand in the prescribed and labeled spots, in front of the cashier I had randomly chosen -
View attachment 217910
Then, finally, I could advance to the next flower-bedecked stopping-Circle - at a prodent distance from the checkout station where my checker was now bagging my purchases with studious efficiency. I tried to imagine how I would feel if I were in his place, bagging groceries for masked customers who stare at me from a distance. I couldn't quite do it. But I thanked him.
View attachment 217911
Then I turned around and looked at a similar scene being repeated at another, nearby (but not too near!) checkout spot. My checker was wearing protective plastic gloves but the neighboring gentleman was not, and there was a tiny part of me feeling relief at this, and another tiny part of me feeling terrible for feeling that, and remembering the serious advice of friends who suggested phoning one's orders in and doing curbside pickup so as to minimize the risks of person-to-person contact with strangers. An idea which I initially rejected out-of-hand, so to speak, but then you have these moments where all of a sudden you stop and ask yourself - are you doing the right thing? are you crazy? should you even be here?
View attachment 217912
And then it was done. My groceries bagged and paid for - via the conveniently located credit-card terminal located at a prudent distance between checker and shopper - and I was ready to return to my car and then back home where, like pretty much everyone else I know, the only other people I see are those glimpsed through my windows, as they walk by, many of them with their dogs, most of which bark like maniacs when they near my house (why, I wonder? what do dogs know that I don't?).
My last view before leaving pretty much encapsulates my overriding sense - of being together with others - but each of us carefully and protectively alone---
View attachment 217914
These aren't just challenging times because of the risk of infection (and, in the last few days, two friends, one halfway across the country, the other, nearly a continent away, have both spoken of friends, or friends of friends, who have died - which makes it all so much more real, for me at least) - but because of how it makes us see people - and react to 'others'. And when I say 'make us', I really mean makes me ... which is weird.
I know it's a cliché, but stay safe everyone - and remember to touch base with those you care about. It may help keep a person sane.
I think it's much more than a feeble attempt, John - it has a richness to it, something about the palette (is that the right word?), the multiple tones, the contrast, it all adds up to: a truly great interpretation....and a great image.My feeble attempt at a higher form of monochrome(on the left).
My Day 7 on the right. I'll keep trying. ( :
View attachment 217925
Truly wonderful series.Day 7 Outtakes: Shopping at Trader Joe's........