It’s almost noon, and I’m finishing my black eyeliner - having only just woken up. And I realize that this might be a little silly. I’m getting ready for an online Russian grammar test. And I have no plans to interact with anyone other than my parents and little brother today. I’m still social-distancing, after all.
However, despite my realization that this might be a little silly, I still finish my makeup. And everyday since I began my quarantine, I have done so. I find it calming. The routine makes me feel productive. Even though I’m only preparing to sit in front of my laptop at my bedroom desk, I still want to feel prepared. I want to exercise some control over my life - no matter how small. And this helps me with that.
A few hours later, I read Anna Wintour’s April 23rd announcement, and I find myself equally calm. In her article, Anna shares the early launch of Vogue’s June/July Special Issue. (The official release is still scheduled for next month.) And even in a climate of utter uncertainty, it seems that Vogue has found a way to highlight what matters: community. As Anna writes herself, “we are all in this together.”
Anna begins her article by sending well wishes to her readers, before expressing her deep gratitude to the many first responders, who continue to bravely protect our communities. And she shares photographs from Ethan Green’s recent series, in which he provides an homage to these first-responders. Green’s photographs feature just a handful of health-care professionals, many of whom came from across the country, in order to help NY’s overwhelmed local healthcare system. The photographs were taken near the Javits Center’s temporary field hospital.
Furthermore, Anna also announces that Vogue’s June/July Issue will be special, in that it’ll be entirely self-photographed. And a portfolio of such self-photographs has already been released online. This is new territory for Vogue. Everything in the issue will be commissioned, designed, and produced remotely. And Anna hopes that the issue will serve as a historic and “poignant reminder of how we are all acutely missing the miracles of everyday life and the joy that they can bring.”
The cover of Vogue’s Special Issue features Irvine Penn’s formerly unpublished photograph, Rose ‘Colour Wonder’ (1970). It’s Vogue’s very first still-life cover in over 50 years.
And as I flip through Vogue’s portfolio of self-portraits, I immediately connect with the words of Daniel Arnold, a nomadic photographer from NY: “I feel like I’ve been on an airplane for six weeks. I cry without being sad or moved, all of my emotions are mutedly haywire; I snack psychotically and I stare out a window, unable to digest how high up I am, or how dangerous it would be to go outside.” While Arnold’s quotation is dramatic, he has a point. I do feel a little bit like I’ve been on an airplane for weeks.
However, the more I study Vogue’s portfolio, the more I realize that Anna might have overlooked something. After all, while I do acutely miss my life “pre-coronavirus,” I also know that the joys of everyday life do not end under quarantine. These are tough times. They are bleak. But they do not have to be wholly hopeless - and there are many ways in which we can still notice, and enjoy, the many small moments that compose our lives.
This is exemplified by Vogue’s own work. In Vogue’s portfolio of self-photography, Sienna Miller discusses baking, swinging, and doing makeup with her little girl. British photojournalist, David Hurd, discusses his morning coffee - and how much he enjoys watching the birds outside his cottage window. Florence Pugh discusses gardening and cooking. And Steven Klein shares an awesome photo of his four-year-old son, surrounded by his stuffed animals.
Steven Klein’s contribution to Vogue’s Issue features his son, Ace, as he plays with his toys in Long Island, NY.
For the first time in my life, my dad is home when I go to the kitchen for lunch. He helps me understand my biology homework. My mom brings me iced tea in the mornings, and we often sit on the patio together. She reads drafts of my writings - and we talk about them in person, rather than over the phone. In the evenings, I make salads while she cooks. And my parents have even started a garden - and my mom was excited this week, when the first plants began to sprout. Meanwhile, I converse with my brother between classes. And I realize just how much less time I’ve spent with them since I began college - and just how much time I suddenly have, to try to make up for what I’ve lost.
As Anna concludes her article, she writes that “[i]t’s a brave act to optimistically consider the future.” And she’s right. But, even more than that, it’s a brave act to optimistically consider the present. And if doing my makeup in the mornings (or afternoons) helps me do so, then so be it. In his contribution to Vogue’s Issue, Marc Jacobs may say it best:
“I never thought a dress was a solution to a problem, but I do believe that as long as people are human, they’ll want to dance and they’ll want to get dressed and they’ll want to eat good food and they’ll want to engage in things that give them pleasure. I guess we just have to find a balance, or maybe rethink what all those things mean. But we all should be thinking about how we can change—or what we learned from this experience.”
Click here, for thumbnail image source; Ethan Green’s photograph features Tanzania Johnson, a Navy hospital corpsman and respiratory-therapy technician, who actively works to address the coronavirus.
