VINCENT & JANG MI - CHICAGO (BRONZEVILLE)
Not knowing if my wife would come back alive from New York City where she was working with COVID-19 infected patients, I took a portrait of us the day before she flew back. The idea was to document us as well as the times we were living in. This image was the inspiration behind the project.
CHRISTOPHER & ANNIE - CHICAGO (NW SIDE)
A Catholic family, Christopher lamented on how their newest child would be baptized, "When will we be able to have our daughter baptized? Normally, that is a big celebration, with family and a party and the like. Now, we’re anticipating a private event this summer, with just godparents, possibly grandparents."
Asked about what she thought would be a lasting memory from the lockdown, "Unfortunately, I don’t have the patience and temperament to teach and that is going to be an unpleasant memory for me and probably the girls." ~Judy
Rob with his children Parker, Griffin, left, & Harper, right. A recent divorce made Rob a single dad of three during the pandemic. To make the situation tougher, his girlfriend had a mother who was immunocompromised that she needed to look after, keeping her and Rob apart for the shelter-in-place time.
HANNAH & TAYO - CHICAGO (KENWOOD)
Hannah is a native of Australia, and her parents had come to America for their grandson Yemi's first birthday, but had to scramble and return shortly after they got here because Australia was closing their borders.
CRISTINE & ED - PLAINFIELD
"I hate to say it’s been a good time for us, because I know others are suffering loss of jobs, income, health and in some cases loved ones, but it’s been good here. One specific memory is when we made a recipe for an Orange Crunch Cake from a place called The Bubble Room (on Captiva Island Florida.) All of us were in the kitchen, like an assembly line." ~Cristine
STEPHEN & HANNAH - JOLIET
Stephen who worked at a grocery store said the moment that will last with him for awhile was the day the governor announcement the order, "I literally felt a change in the air in the store as hundreds of people came pouring into my store all at once to panic shop. I had never felt anything like that before. It was like I could sense the literal change in emotion as people suddenly were shopping scared, nervous, or angry."