The theme of 2020 continues, though there was much more fun involved in the creation of these images than may appear.  How often do you get to get to invite a young person to climb into a hole, ask them to allow you to dowse them with water, then muddy them up?  Lucky for us, October in AZ is still wonderfully warm.

In this series, you're looking for imagery relating to the continuing concern re: Covid-19.  Emotions, meaning primarily fear, remain high.  The medical community is hard at work seeking cures and preventatives. Health, ultimately is the goal.  But, money is a monstrous factor in all of this as well.  Many buried loved ones they weren't able to touch and see at the end, and economic concerns were part of this.  You'll find several hints of this in the mask, the setting, and the plants being held or placed around the frame.

One of the primary goals in each image, was to ensure you could meet the gaze of the young person wearing the mask.  If nothing else is in focus, that connection is there.  The ability to genuinely meet someone else's gaze is endangered in our current climate.  We are failing to see each other, or acknowledge another's fears and struggles, if they don't align with our own. 

People have become "the other" rather than simply a stranger.  Other often represents a threat.  It is the unknown.  The struggle is the inability to know the effect others will have on us, and to not be afraid. We have a deep need to see more than we have the ability to know at first glance.  That feeds the fear, rather than a healthier curiousity.

This is a hopeful series though.  We have pieces in our environment that can help, not just ourselves but others, and the ability to not stay framed in old ways of thinking.  Our young people are being taught to care, and to adjust when life throws them curves. 

Most importantly, roots grow deep in dark holes, when watered and tended, and life always persists.