Around Harvard & Davis Square – 08.09.20

One place that I have not been back to since the start of the 2020 Pandemic has been the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts. In particular, the world famous Harvard Square. On August 9th, I decided to take a quick trip out to Harvard Square to just take a look and see what the area was looking like these days.

As expected, it was fairly quiet. While there were still small groups of people wandering about -including a few select students on the grounds of Harvard University,- the Square had far more shuttered businesses than it did visitors. The walk around the Square took a mere 45 minutes.

Out of curiosity, I headed to another spot that would normally be populated with throngs of folks wandering about on a sunny Sunday morning: Davis Square in Somerville. Much like Harvard, Davis was also somewhat quiet. The good news about those who were out in both areas? Nearly everyone was wearing a mask. Hopefully that will continue and full life will return to both squares soon enough.

Boston, MA – June 7, 2020

Last weekend, I once again found myself heading into the city of Boston to observe and document familiar locations that have gone through some truly trying, surrealistic and often tragic times.

I’ll hold off on the social commentary and present instead a series of pictures of the downtown of a city that, like many others nationwide, have dealt with a double whammy of recent civil unrest alongside a months-long pandemic.

Be safe, everyone.

Boston, MA – May 24, 2020

Here’s a second set of photos taken last Sunday while I walked around Boston. Given the events over the past seven days -and in particular, last night- in both this country and the city of Boston, a mere week ago feels more like an eternity.

 

Everyone, please stay safe and please, watch out for one another. 

Back to Boston – May 24, 2020

After two months of exile, I returned back to downtown Boston this past Sunday to take a lengthy walk around town, get some much-needed exercise and take some pictures in the process.

Short Film: “Boston, MA. 03.22.20”

Every so often, I will take my photos and combine them into a short film. Usually, this is done to try and sell a new book or seek funding for a new book project. This time, however, I simply decided to take all of my processed pics from my recent Boston series and put them together in a short film simply as a document of this incredibly surreal, heartbreaking time we are all going through right now.

I hope you like it.

Stay At Home: The Prequel – Melrose, MA January, 2015

A little over five years ago, the New England region was the recipient of several rounds of big snowstorms, including a blizzard at the end of January -I believe it was the end of that month- that caused the governor of Massachusetts to order everyone outside of essential personnel off the roads and stay home (part of that sound familiar?). Well, unlike our recent situation, I actually did venture out to wander around my hometown of Melrose to take pictures. I figure the most the authorities would do is just roll their eyes at me (actually, the ones I encountered just waved).

The quiet that blanketed my hometown that snowy January day was slightly unsettling, but it certainly wasn’t in the same league as what I felt when walking through downtown Boston in late March or downtown Melrose itself a few days ago.

Finding myself in a rather down mood over the past few days, I decided to go back and do some work on older photos in the hopes of occupying myself with something other than the news. The following pics are the first results.

As always, I hope you enjoy the photos. I also hope you, your friends and family are all healthy and safely at home. Take care.

Miscellaneous – Boston, MA 3.22.20

For me, one way to try and combat both cabin fever and isolation is to work on editing existing photos. Here is another group of photos taken from March 22nd in Boston, Massachusetts.

If you would like to see the entire set in order, you can find that page here on my official website.

Stay safe, everyone.

Boston, MA – 03.22.20

This is the third and final set of pics from last Sunday (I’m dropping the ‘Ghost Town Walk’ bit.).

 

Hopefully soon, I will be back out there doing a series of photos about Boston getting back to normal.

 

Stay safe, everyone.

Ghost Town Walk, Part II – Boston, MA 03.22.20

The following is a second set of pictures from my walk through parts of the city of Boston on March 22nd, 2020 during a “Stay In Place” advisory.

Stay safe, everyone!

Ghost Town Walk. Boston, MA – 03.22.20

I can’t count how many times I have walked through Downtown Crossing, the North End and the Financial District of Boston in my lifetime (as I am sure many of you can’t either). Usually, it feels like familiar territory. But today, it felt completely foreign to me. The last time it felt like this? The week after the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.

From the TD Garden to South Station and everywhere between, the foot traffic was equally as scarce as vehicle traffic. Just as it was in Salem earlier this week, stores, bars, restaurants, you name it, were all closed.

The eerie calm that covered this part of the city today felt like a heavy blanket, one I would only be more than happy to pull off and throw on the ground. There were some people around, most either on their own or couples out for a Sunday stroll. Fortunately, most if not all were practicing the ol’ social distancing. There were also the occasional homeless individuals out and about, but even they were few and far between.

The silence, the lack of interaction and day-to-day life were okay at first but quickly made me feel uneasy as I walked around trying to find images of isolation and emptiness to document. Walking through the dead silence of the Financial District, I soon began to feel like I was in the 2002 film “…28 Days Later.” If you’ve seen the film, you know that this is not a good feeling to get from your Sunday city stroll.

After about 90 minutes of aimless wandering and picture taking -the first group presented here-, I was only more than happy to get the hell out of Beantown for the time being (I couldn’t even imagine being in New York City right now). I love Boston, but not like this.

Boston, New York, London, India…wherever you may be as you read this. Please be safe and practice social distancing (I took these shots by myself and was never close to anyone else). We’ll see you back here soon.