Is the winter of 2020/21 the year of the "Still Life" or the "Self Portrait"?

[Rob Skeoch]

I realize this forum is international and your own Covid19 mileage may vary.

I live north of Toronto and Canada is heading into a lockdown.
I've done no street photography this year; can't seem to get excited about landscapes for some reason, the fact that it's storming out as I write this seems to reinforce these feeling; portraits are off the table because of covid... but yet I want to take some photos.
I'm getting twitchy already about not going out to shoot. Not creating anything, for so long.
I'm even considering how to do a self portrait or two, although don't know how I'd fire the shutter from across the room.
Self portrait's aren't something I normally spend a lot of time on.
Is this the winter we get out the "peppers that look like nudes"? Maybe those crazy oyster mushrooms, shoot them on a canvas background with window light on large format and make contact prints... I might be losing my mind but I'm really considering it.
Not everyone is going into lockdown, some areas are safe while others are following different rules while dealing with Covid, but I think the Still Life will be making a comeback. This might be the winter of writing that book, or creating a book of past images, or maybe just finishing to read a good book. This might be the winter of learning to play the guitar, piano or saxophone.
We will see how it all turns out, but hopefully we'll all get through this safely and meet again on the other side.
Maybe it's time to wipe the spider webs off the tripod, open that box of Tmax 11x14, and look up those bellow factor tables. Maybe it's time for a Still Life Revival?
I hope you find the funkiest pepper in the market... and you find it before the ghost of Weston scoops it up and you have to fight him for it in the middle of the produce department.
Keep Still my friends.
-Rob

 

[Donald Qualls]

For me, this is the winter to get back into the darkroom. I've been shooting and developing for months, I'll be ready to print in a week or two (and a 4-day weekend coming up), and I'll be learning to print color (black and white, off and on, since 1969 -- color since 2020).

If i get confident enough at it, I might order a 10-sheet box of Portra in 4x5.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

No lockdown in sight or here in BC, as long as we keep our masks on and social distance... Fingers crossed.

 

[Tel]

I've been teaching myself to CLA leaf shutters. So far, I've done a Koilos, an Ilex Acme #3 and several Seikoshas. Learned the basics from Chris Sherlock's youtube videos and the specifics from various manuals on the web. As a side project I followed Robin Guymer's Nikon F2 stripdown and reassembly posted here (using a "junk" F2 from the 'bay that is now fully functional). The second-wave "lockdown" here is not very severe--mostly restricted hours at restaurants and bars, so not being a heavy drinker I don't miss it much. Got to get out with the LF gear soon; maybe some landscapes or buildings. I haven't shot any street photos since February--I guess that'll wait until next summer.

 

[LeftCoastKid]

No lockdown in sight or here in BC, as long as we keep our masks on and social distance... Fingers crossed.

+1. Here's hoping that a lockdown proves unnecessary, and that the present state of affairs (masks recommended, social distancing, no large gatherings) represents the extent of our "inconvenience." I've now the habit of carrying masks and sanitizer in all my camera bags, and avoiding crowds of any size. As well, I've decided that "street- shooting" is on hiatus until sometime in mid-2021 (fingers crossed that we are through all this by next summer). I suspect that our annual Polar Bear Dip is toast as well as Chinese New Years celebrations. I've also given up plans to head over to Butchart Gardens for the annual Christmas display, something I've wanted to do for the last couple of years. Provided a lock-down can be avoided, I'll most likely content myself with landscape/nature photography in the Lower Mainland, and possibly on the Island (subject, of course, to possible restrictions on ferry travel). As well, there is always the option of catching up on work in the darkroom (about 30-odd rolls of film, 35mm and 120, to process, plus printing, of course),

 

[Vaughn]

Safest place for me is in the woods this winter -- best time to photograph the redwoods anyway.

 

[_the_bside_]

I think I've spent my entire year picturing my version of still life.. And my entire life capturing details of life. It is at the center of my abstract work.
Lockdown, rituals, and objects linked to them. A Bialetti and a japanese ceramic cup, my wife's favourite glass on a white table cloth, the weekly supply of organic fruits and vegetables laying on the table in the sun, in front of the kitchen window.. Of that empty space, filled with warmth and empty chairs. Memories of a conversation with the last friends who came visit..
Winter has always been my favourite time of the year. Quite ironical for someone like me, Indonesia-born, but Paris-raised. Empty streets at night, misty, quiet. A lamp post, a street corner, people coming in and out, unexpected encounters. A few beers later, a few portraits in a quirky appartement. More wine, tensions are long gone, and intimacy can speak volumes..

 

[R.Gould]

As things are going here it is going to be still life and the darkroom that is going to see me more than most, Our christmas is pretty much cancelled, all hospitably is closed the island is almost closed apart from shopping, every other year this month and next there is a lot to do, Christmas parades, entertainment various events that provide great photographs, but due to Covid nothing, no Christmas markets nothing,
so still life,darkroom or no photography this year and by the looks of it nothing much until the spring, and in a small island there is only so many landscapes/seascapes you can take without people to bump into, and by law we must keep at least 2 meters apart,

 

[Michel Hardy-Vallée]

If I look at the kind of work I've been doing this year, it looks like I have stumbled on found still lives. Most of the photos I find interesting are portrait-like shots of compositions with natural elements taken at close to medium range. I did that in my backyard, in local parks, and whatever little piece of nature I could get my feet in.

No large vistas, no random encounter with strangers. This situation feels more and more like the premise of Chris Marker's La jetée: because space was blocked, they tried to find ways of travelling through time.