Wayne Bund
"High Tide: Pandemic Portraits" consists of 55 portraits that document families, artists, and LGBT folk living in the US during the COVID-19 Pandemic. I photograph people in their homes and maintain social distance. I shoot people through door screens, windows, and on their balconies. The goal of the project is two-fold: to capture the feeling of those quarantined during the pandemic, and to document artists and LGBT folks currently living across the US.
I found myself in Provincetown at the beginning of the quarantine and stayed there until June. When Governor Baker instituted statewide quarantine in Massachusetts on March 16th, 2020, I found myself crippled with fear and anxiety. I was unable to make art. I filled my time with making kimchi, taking long walks, and playing Breath of the Wild on my Nintendo Switch. But then something switched around May 1st. I started photographing a few friends.
My constraints were simple: I would show up at their house sometime around sunset. The subject would stay in their home. I would wear a mask and photograph them from outside their physical home. We would talk and laugh through barriers and screens. As I drove cross country to return to my home in Portland, I continued this process of seeking out artists and LGBT individuals and photographing them in their homes. I am continuing this project in Portland, as it does not seem that the pandemic is ending in the United States anytime soon.
"High Tide" is about artists who have survived the AIDS crisis, built families, and continued to make art. It is about the reflection of clouds and trees and light against windows. It is a project about taking a confusing time riddled with chaos and death and making portraits of people. It is about the tenacity of human survival, even if it is merely standing inside behind a window or a door.