Covid Retreat
On day 3 of a 10 day yoga retreat in Puglia, Italy, I tested positive for Covid. This was the summer of 2022 and the expectation to isolate was strict. I had to make peace with the fact that I would be spending - more than likely - at least the next 7 days in my room.
My room had a Juliet balcony overlooking a tree lined street and a beautiful old church, with swifts that flew at dawn and dusk, and afternoons that baked in silence. I decided to spend my isolation watching Italian movies, and taking photographs. Life on the street, however and whenever I could capture it.
I became a little obsessed. I would listen for the sounds of voices, and bolt to the window to see what I could see. I would keep my ears peeled for footfall. People walking by on their way to the Tabacchi right next door, papers in their hands. Tourists with their maps. Gentle conversations on the steps of the church right next door.
I watched the weather. I heard the fighter jets doing drills in the mid-afternoon heat and tried to capture them. The swifts of course and pigeons too. The wind, it rose and fell. A storm it came to break the unrelenting heat. A neighboring home - their laundry hanging out all day. Swept in before the rain came. People on their phones. There it all was before me. And me, taking flight on a little romance - a sensual woman on her balcony, confined to here. The Lady of Shalott but not quite as tragic. Seen and unseen, and taking photographs all the while.
Some of those shots, here.
