- Name
- Miguel Tejada-Flores
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.
Hey, Andrew, thanks for the comment - and I didn't really realize that we are almost neighbors...! I live in Talent, just a hop, skip and a jump north of Ashland - and make occasional trips to the coast, either to see friends or just to feel the sea breeze for a change. If we all collectively survive the ups and downs of the pandemic and there comes a time when we can all travel safely, we should get together for coffee or beer or food or simply to compare f-stops so you are a Bandon person? Damn, it's truly a small world, ain't it?
I'm glad the photos resonated for you. It was, and is, truly strange, going to a place where one has been many times before - and realizing that it has substantially changed, in profound ways. Incidentally, the shopping center where Trader Joe's is located in Medford - which as I'm sure you know is also home to REI, Petco, and a large number of other stores & restaurants - and which in bygone days was almost always crowded all the time, with the parking lot mostly full ---- well, it (the shopping center/mall) was totally deserted. You had the feeling you either were in a ghost town - or visiting a former center of civilization after some apocalyptic civilization-ending event....which, in a manner of speaking, we seem to be in the middle of right now. But, yeah....weird is definitely the word.
Take care, and stay well.
Cheers!
Miguel