In the midst of COVID-19, photographers around the world are having to navigate the unknown and find novel ways to work and document events as they play out.
Claudio, Italy
For the sixth of our lockdown photography features, we speak to photographer Jackie Russo about her project ‘Isolation Portraits’, a series of remote portraits shot via video chat with people around the world.
Invited by an open call, the subjects of Jackie’s Isolation Portraits are mostly strangers at first. Setting up a small, impromptu studio in her Mexico City apartment, she aims to shoot portraits in the same way she would typically do in-person; instead she’s communicating across time zones, directing people over dodgy WiFi signals and dealing with sunlight glare on her laptop screen, but the outcome is a beautiful collaborative effort that encapsulates the spirit of our time.
Dorothy, Maryland, USA
Jackie, can you introduce yourself and tell us how COVID-19 has impacted your daily life, work and state of mind?
My name is Jackie Russo. I’m a portrait photographer from California, now living and working in Mexico City, and have been isolating in my apartment here since mid-March. The impact of COVID-19 has been really nonlinear – I self-quarantined at home a few weeks earlier than the rest of Mexico City, because I had been traveling in the U.S. the first half of March. At first, I was really gripped by anxiety, having spent my last week in the U.S. helping my parents prepare for lockdown amidst tangible panic in southern California.
Miles, Seattle
Victoria, New York
I also happened to be dealing with some major apartment issues at the time, so the idea of having a “home” to stay in for the foreseeable future was thrown into constant question. Over time things have started to level out, and I’ve settled into more of a rhythm and state of acceptance, although there are certainly still waves of anxiety and fear. My daily life now is relatively peaceful, and I’m very fortunate to still have some work coming in (I also work as a graphic designer), although I find it about 300% more difficult to focus on that work.
Roxie, Wuhan
Kristi, New Orleans
Tell us about your current series ‘Isolation Portraits’. When and where did the idea originate for this project?
‘Isolation Portraits’ is a series of remote portraits shot via video chat with people all over the world who are in lockdown because of COVID-19. The idea for this project came up on one of my last days in California in March before I returned to Mexico City. I was thinking about how many video calls loomed in my future, and thought I might try and make some portraits while chatting with my friends. It was not by any means a fully formed idea from the beginning, but over the next few days as I started doing test shoots and looking for subjects, it developed into what it is now.
I was thinking about how many video calls loomed in my future…
The first iterations of the project were screenshots of the video calls, which were underwhelming, then I started playing around with photographing my laptop, which eventually turned into a full backdrop setup with the laptop on a fabric covered stool. I think this set up brought the idea to life because it gave context to the images. There’s a clear and obvious distance between myself and the subject, not only through the computer screen but also through our geographic distance.
Jesus, Mexico City
The little green light of the laptop camera on my end and the small picture-in-picture of me with my DSLR are clues that this was a live portrait session, but also reminders of the requisite sterility that keeps the subject and me from being together in person. Despite all of that, I wanted to give the images the same aesthetic respect that I would give to a proper, in-person portrait, hence the background. The set up also renders the laptop almost as an art object, and helps recall the formal painted portraits of days past, which sits in contrast to the fact that the technological viability of these portraits is extremely modern.
Jenna, San Francisco
How have you been dealing with the lack of face-to-face interaction? What things are you missing most?
The lack of face-to-face interaction has definitely been difficult. I haven’t touched another human being in 1.5 months, and my conversations with my two cats have really evolved, which is probably not a great sign. Video and phone calls have been crucial, and I talk to my parents and sister more than I normally do. I live alone and don’t have a partner, so the things I’m missing the most are small physical interactions – the single cheek kiss we use to greet everyone in Mexico, hugging my friends, grabbing somebody’s arm when you’re excited or laughing, receiving a bag of produce from the vendor in the local market without worrying whether or not your fingers come into contact. I’m excited to have those interactions back in my life in the future.
Eva, Belgium
What’s the process behind these shoots? How do you source the people for this project? Where do you set the photos up?
The process for shooting the Isolation Portraits starts with finding the subject. I have found the vast majority of my subjects through Instagram, where I initially put out a call for participants that was generously shared by my friends, and I started getting messages from people all over the world. Most of the subjects were strangers to me before our portrait session, and it’s been an immense pleasure getting to speak with different people and find some comfort in our shared situation across the globe.
…it’s been an immense pleasure getting to speak with different people and find some comfort in our shared situation…
Scheduling the portraits is a huge logistical challenge given the array of time zones, but thankfully people have been incredibly flexible and gracious with their time. I usually try to set up a few sessions back-to-back, because the set up requires dismantling my apartment a bit. I shoot the photos in my living room, where I move some furniture around to make space for my backdrop rig. There’s just enough space for me to nestle against my dining room table with my camera, and thankfully there’s a large window just off to the side, so I’ve been able to shoot the images with natural light.
Elva, Houston
Are there any unique challenges to shooting photos of a laptop screen and directing portraits remotely? I can imagine there are quite a few!
This project is absolutely rife with challenges. The biggest challenge is simply a lack of control. Sometimes the internet connection is horrible and the video is totally pixelated, or the subject comes online and the light in their space is too dark or too bright, or the light on my side is in just the wrong spot and I’m stuck with glare on the computer screen.
Additionally, I’m not a still life or product photographer, and it’s been a huge learning experience for me to consider how the computer itself looks. It needs to be totally clean, and arranged just so on the stool so that it isn’t warped or angled in any way – that kind of perspective control is definitely not my strong suit. As far as directing the portraits, it’s been surprisingly similar to directing in real life. It’s a little more involved, as I also have to direct the subject on how to position the camera on their end, but otherwise it is actually pretty effective. The subject can see me, so I’ll often demonstrate how I want them to pose, and since they can also see a small thumbnail of themselves, they are able to see what they look like, which is not normally an element of portraiture, but which I think has made a lot of the subjects more comfortable and natural in their poses.
Edmund, California
Lastly, what is your daily routine like now and how do you stay motivated during this time?
The most motivating thing for me at the moment is actually having a planned out daily routine. I’ve always been a list maker, and now my lists are more detailed and sometimes I’ll assign times to activities so my day feels structured. Exercise and cleaning have become important daily rituals, as well as spending some time in the sun (I’m lucky to have a terrace here). Continuing to shoot the Isolation Portraits has also been really helpful for my mental state, and I’ve started experimenting with self-portraits as well. But I also acknowledge that I can’t be motivated every day, and that’s fine too. Sometimes I just have to take a step back and let my mind try and catch up with everything that’s going on around me.
