MOTHERS IN LOCKDOWN
This photographic project was created over the course of 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. At a time of contact restrictions and lockdowns, a documentary photo series involving people seemed doomed to fail. However, the photographer found an unusual way to communicate with people and photograph them — without being physically present at the location. This method is called remote photography and opens up a new world of possibilities for realizing ideas in interesting and creative ways.
In this way, Oxana remotely portrayed women from almost all over the world — from the USA and across Europe to Russia — without ever having to leave her home in Cologne. She didn’t use her own camera, but rather the smartphones of the protagonists. With the help of the “Shutter App,” she was able to control the devices, adjust the exposure, and even press the shutter button remotely from her computer.
The photographer engaged in deep conversations with the women about the gender roles that many families had reverted to during the pandemic. The women once again took on increased responsibility for household chores and for caring for children who were being homeschooled. Combined with the sense of confinement, this period was especially burdensome for mothers. Oxana Guryanova spoke with the women about these hopeless circumstances, exhaustion, and fears — and documented or partially staged their everyday lives.
The project was published in L.Fritz Magazine, Issue #8, 2022.
