WAITING FOR SUMMER
"Waiting for Summer" is a project I began in 2021, offering a glimpse into the American psyche post-2020. It seeks to understand the profound impact of collective trauma stemming from the global pandemic, nationwide civil unrest, and a tumultuous election season. These events shifted the nation's mood from hope to apathy and listlessness, prompting a reevaluation of our national identity and state of being.
Originally conceived for publication as a modest book or zine, the project remains unpublished and unseen. The photographs, spanning from winter 2021 through fall of the same year, capture a poignant narrative. The title metaphorically alludes to the initial anticipation, during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, that by summer, normalcy would return. However, well into 2021, it became apparent that the awaited moment of ‘returning to normal’ remained elusive.
Collective trauma occurs when a society undergoes a shared traumatic event, becoming a defining element of its identity, ethos, or worldview. The psychological aftermath of living through the Covid-19 pandemic continues to be studied, with many of its lasting effects yet to fully manifest. Nevertheless, in the aftermath of a series of harrowing events in 2020, a prevailing sense of lethargy and disillusionment seemed to overshadow any glimmers of hope.
In a sense the images in this project reflect the attitude of I saw in America that year, that we were still all waiting for summer to come and erase all of the horrible things we had endured in 2020.
