Covid-19 stay at home photographers

We are in unprecedented times, which is kind of stating the obvious, but the current climate of staying at home and self isolation has presented a number of challenges for photographers.

Working photographers in the commercial field of weddings, public relations, advertising etc, have all had to cease trading, leaving all but the photojournalist and press photographer out and about to carry on as before and with that, running the real risk of catching the Coronavirus.

Then we have the ‘other’ genre of photographer, who is not so much a working photographer but more of a virtual snapper or ‘educator’ as they refer to themselves.  Those that appear on the internet offering advice and opinions and who for the past few weeks, appear to have struggled to provide any ‘meaningful’ content on their video channels.

I mock only because I am still reeling at the vast array of ‘youtube photographers who rely on their channel to earn a living and not photography per-se.  But I digress.  In these times it is all too easy to throw your hands in the air and fall into a never ending spiral of despair as you gaze hopelessly at the endless news coverage predicting the end of civilization as we know it.

And yet, I say not all is lost. Yes, income will have taken a beating and that is enough to send anyone into a state of catatonic melancholy, but why not use this time to do the things you have always put off for another day.

I suspect this will only really apply to photographers of a certain age, but if like me, you have been working as a photographer before the genie was released from the bottle and remember the days of analogue, telephone landlines and film, then you will undoubtedly have boxes full of dust covered negs and slides.

There can be no better reason or opportunity than now to take a deep breath and bite that bullet. Be it a dedicated scanner or a home rig – I have yet to decide which  – now is the time to get scanning. After all, what else are you going to do?