The View From Inside: Day Nineteen
by Chris de Beer-Procter from Cape Town, South Africa
We celebrated our second-year marriage anniversary locked down in Cape Town, drinking our last precious bottle of red wine (sales of alcohol is prohibited during lockdown) in our first home, which we bought together only a few months ago. My wife has an immune condition, they’re not allowed to leave the house.
I’ve turned my camera on the safe, intimate space we’ve created for our little family, perhaps as a way to affirm the difference between Out There and Inside.
Inside we are safe, warm and in love. That we know as true. Out There is uncertain. When I come from the Out There, shooting for work or shopping for groceries, there are rituals I must observe to pass through from Out There to Inside. To keep our space safe, sacred and intimate. The activity of putting on a mask, sanitising my hands, washing my clothes and tracing my steps to sanitise again have become little daily expressions of care.
South Africa’s president declared the country in a State of Disaster right before announcing the 21 day lockdown. This was extended to the 30th of April. From then, the country expects the lockdown to ease off slowly, in stages in an attempt to awaken our economy without causes a spike in infections.
Accidental light studies in my home. An unexpected delight and outlet for my frustration to create. We do what we can to feel productive. To feel like being confined can teach you something. I just didn’t expect to learn to see my home pass through the day. I’ve been watching the light bounce around the house from hour to hour, kissing the walls, bathing the cats, drawing stripes on our floors. Yesterday, I saw a spot of rainbow on our kitchen floor.
I will admit, it has been a great time for getting things done around the house...
Every damn day I worry that I’m not wearing this thing properly.
