Housebound - A Portrait Project in Isolation

It's been an amazing couple of months meeting so many wonderful people who have welcomed me to their homes and shared with me, and all of us, their experience of self-isolation and social distancing during this pandemic. This has been an uncertain time for many, riddled with fears and anxiety but also one that has been filled with hope and kindness and a heightened sense of community.

As restrictions begin to ease in Melbourne later today, and all across the country, I hope we will continue to practice safe social distancing measures and sanitation. More importantly, I hope we will continue to look out for each other, to be kind and thoughtful.

The support for this project has been overwhelming and I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who participated, sent me messages of encouragement, financially supported me and found some joy and connection through the stories told.

I will be taking a little break from the project in June but would love to keep the conversations going so please feel free to send me a message or interact with the stories.

Stay safe, wash your hands and always choose kindness first.

xox
Sanjeev

For those parenting at home, I hope you find comfort in these stories... you are not alone...

Opinion | ‘I Have Given Up’: Parenting in Quarantine Readers tell us how they’re managing the Parent-Employee-Teacher trifecta during the pandemic.

David – The Bronx, New York City (USA)

“When things started to shut down I was touring the West Coast of the U.S. with The Mikado. The theatres were often times closing the day after we left them like dominos. Then, the last three shows in California were cancelled. That was around March 12th.

My boyfriend, who flew out from NYC, and I had planned to take a few days after the tour to vacation in California. Things started to really get odd and close down around us.

We flew back to NYC on the March 16th just to find that one of the doormen in my building had passed away due to COVID that morning. The New Yorker magazine did a very sweet article on his passing, he was one of the first. His elderly mother was recovering from cancer, contracted COVID and survived! That’s been one of the scarier things with this virus it doesn’t seem to follow a logic.

My boyfriend has a small beach side studio in New Jersey, so we grabbed my pup, repacked our bags and drove down there for a few weeks. We lived the suburban life down there gearing up with face masks and hand sanitizer, going to Walmart and Home Depot (because we had previously started a bathroom renovation). Many stores had/have lines out the door to limit customers and allow for social distancing inside.

I’ve had about 20 friends who think that they’ve had it or have not gotten tested but have had suspected cases. Over here, they won’t test you unless you have severe symptoms or have knowingly been exposed. My friends’ experiences tend to be three to four weeks of a miserable array of symptoms, the common thread being fatigue a very high fever.
One friend passed away a month ago from heart failure. They found later that COVID was in his system and was the probable catalyst.

I’ve since come back to my apartment in the Bronx to find a real mix of precautions. My corner 24-hour bodega was closed for a couple weeks. They reopened with plastic floor to ceiling sheets in front of the register and deli. Skater boys are hanging out and one in four have a mask. I’ve seen people getting on and off of the bus, most have masks. So many people are wearing the masks incorrectly. Having either the mouth or nose exposed. There are many typical New Yorkers with cavalier attitudes not taking any precautions. “We’ve been through a lot here, this wont stop us.”

At 7:00pm sharp everday people are standing out of their windows banging on pots and pans clapping and cheering for front line workers, nurses, and doctors. One time I saw someone in scrubs walking down our cross street soaking it in and taking a bow.

The US seems to be half cautious and half stupid. I haven’t been on a bus or subway or in Manhattan since I left for tour mid Feb. I probably won’t be for the foreseeable future.
All performance contracts were cancelled or postponed indefinitely.

Unemployment Insurance is a mess. My application went in a month ago and is still in limbo. The website crashes every time I try to look into it and people literally spend days trying to get through on the phone.

My family is healthy, I’ve got my BF, my dog, and my health, so for now, I’m happy too.” - David