Shannon Benine

For the Duration, 2020

“For the Duration,” documents the impact of COVID-19 during the spring of 2020 within the greater Los Angeles area. This project began on March 8, 2020, eleven days before the state of California implemented the shelter in place mandate. In an ironic shift, the stay at home order has made us more aware of one another and the space each one of us occupies than before COVID-19. Now, for many of us, when we step outside of our homes, our cars, or our places of work, our senses are heightened, as we do our best to navigate life for the duration of this new, shared reality.

Within this series, I am documenting the range of emotions that I am experiencing during this pandemic when outside my apartment, mirrored back in a stranger’s gaze, during the first weeks of social distancing. Hunting for moments of connection and miss connection between myself and my subjects, revealing how fragile we are as human beings and how directly individual actions affect the lives of many others.