ovid-19 has rocked many areas of the world and I consider myself lucky to be living in Australia where we handled the pandemic with swift and precise action. That’s not to say it didn’t affect many Australian’s out there, even my own household, workplace and friends:

• My partner’s studio had to close, so she was out of work for two months.
• My work-family was made redundant and our office building shut down
• Countless friends were stood-down, made redundant or couldn’t find work 
• Private work was cancelled as clients stopped spending money on external-vendors
• Two overseas trips had to be cancelled
  

All of those are quite life-changing things, as my ways of working and the people I am working with on the “nine to five grind” have changed forever, the ideals around corporate life I’ve been having for the last twelve months have also started to solidify and I don’t think the world will return to normal, but maybe a “new-normal”. 

All of those things above, bar one, I have been okay with. My partner was finally able to have a break and it showed us we could survive when kids come along, my old colleagues are going to be going onto bigger and better things, my friends are starting to get their jobs back with more passion than before and my client-work is ramping up (too fast even). It was a great learning experience for when life throws you big change, and I think a lot of people have been handling it exceptionally. 

However, the one thing that has made me sad, which doesn’t have a silver lining is my cancelled trips. I was meant to be flying over to Japan today, and while that may not seem like a big thing because I can just “go next year”, “when things calm down”, it is quite a blow to my creative process that I’ve set up over the last few years. 

It’s such a #FirstWorldProblem to be worried about not being able to fly to a different country to take photographs or record video with everything going on in the world right now. Not only do we have Covid-19 changing the world, we also have the movements all over the world fighting for a fair go. So right now, it seems odd to be writing about myself. But, I use Japan as a core pillar to date milestones, work towards dates and have time dedicated to something that is completely me, and not a project for a client, friend or joint activity. 

I find the Gold Coast uninspiring, and that in itself may also seem like a big statement as it’s one of Australia’s greatest tourist capitals, but to me there is nothing here that gives me the motivation to use my camera, but over there; all I need to do is hope in a car and explore the countryside, where each small town seems different than the last. At first, I thought this was just because I was a tourist, but the more I learn and experience it the more I realise it’s a very special place. 

So today I’m sad that I can’t go on a trip and create memories, photographs and do my planned road trip. I’ll be there as soon as I can, but for now I’ll remind myself that I still haven’t finished editing the last set of trip photos. 

There’s also a lot of other exciting things happening, but now is not the time to discuss them. If you are reading this and understand what is going on in the world with the BLM Movement, here is a link for you to understand how you can help from Australia.  

Cheers,
Dean