When the corona virus hit us, we were forced to segregate ourselves from every form of human contact. However, what we didn’t take a pause to think about was how most people have been isolated even before the pandemic.
On the early days of March 2020, the world was forced to experience a drastic change. This isn’t about the revolutionary fight against racism, or the stance against patriarchy. This change was caused by the corona virus pandemic that spread like wildfire through all corners of the earth. All sectors and industries were wholly affected. A lot of these sectors may have even carried out series of in-house meetings to think up ways they could benefit from this pandemic. Whilst that was going on, quite a number of industries continued to sink.
The need for Partnerships and Collaborations became very prevalent. With this, came webinars and seminars from industry experts to budding industry enthusiasts on how to carve a niche, or how to fully stay afloat, post pandemic.
As we progressed deeper into the isolation, there were a whole lot of fun activities, games and program organized online (thanks to technology), so we didn’t get to lose our sanity to boredom. What we didn’t realize was that there had been a whole group of people who have unconsciously and (mostly) unwillingly been living their lives in isolation. They weren’t directly forced to. It just so happens that we unconsciously placed a tag on them, forcing them to withdraw from every forms of human attraction.
Think about it – How comfortable do people feel when we are with them? That dwarf, does he feel left out when he’s with us? Few months ago, the world had BlackLivesMatter reigning in the nooks of both major and rural cities. Why do you think that was? The crippled or partly blind have been forced to accept that nothing about them is changing soon, and have therefore separated themselves from the seemingly “complete” ones.
The albino kid would always feel unaccepted, insecure and withdrawn. Why do you think that is? Queer men and women have to stay hidden even in acclaimed liberal cities. Did you hear about the conversion therapy? Who would want that? Until this very time, the higher percentage of coloured folks is still struggling to be seen and heard. Men have generally been groomed to isolate from every forms of emotion, and our women have time and time again been separated from their abilities to dream bigger.
The list goes on and on. It’s endless.
This is the narrative I was trying to push when I thought of this project. Maybe the advent of the pandemic isn’t totally bad. Maybe it’s here so we’d understand that certain people would forever be a part of our lives and it’s time we paid attention to them. A lot are sulking, and can hardly manage the feeling of seclusion anymore.
PLEASE, BE A FRIEND.
Special thank to Godwin for perfectly executing this.
Credit:
Models: LED Model Management
Photography: KingAndJohnson