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Conceptual Series

Home - Projecting the unattainable in time of isolation

As the reality of the lockdown sinked in, I tried to come to terms with the new normal.
The kids were at home 24/7, their schools were closed and all social activities got canceled. The interaction with their friends was confined to the occasional chaotic conversation through the computer or gaming headset, and the daily chats with the next door neighbours through the garden fence.
Watching my pre-teenage son and my 5 year old daughter having their childhood disrupted by the proliferation of a new virus, triggered unfamiliar anxieties.
Using my home as a canvas and an old Kodak Carousel slide film projector, I incorporated images of faraway places into scenes of the children’s daily routine.
A photo of a lake in the Atacama desert filling our sitting room during a late night family disco party or the boiling mud of a geyser in the Bolivian Altiplano revealed on the bathroom tiles during bath time, provided some distraction from the new reality and prompt enthusiasm in the kids.

Paulo Nunes Dos Santos

Paulo Nunes dos Santos (b. 1977, Portugal) is a Dublin based freelance photojournalist and reporter covering armed conflict, humanitarian crisis, political instability and social issues worldwide. He is a frequent contributor to The New York Times and Jornal Expresso and occasionally collaborates with the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Al-Jazeera, Le Monde, Bloomberg and other international publications. After graduating from college in 2002, with a masters in Communication Sciences/Journalism, Paulo started traveling extensively throughout the Middle East, North and Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, South America, Caucasus and Eastern Europe, where he produced feature stories and photo essays on the human condition during and in post-war environments.