A Time of Distance

The COVID-19 Visual Project. A Time of Distance began as a multimedia platform with the aim of becoming a permanent archive on the pandemic. It is a collection that includes a variety of content aimed at recounting the health crisis, the social and individual consequences, and the economic impact that characterise this unexpected period in history. This platform showcases the work of internationally renowned photographers, video makers, visual artists, and journalists, who leave their indelible mark.

The images touch upon the most important themes linked to the pandemic, such as the health crisis, empty cities, lockdown, the economic effects, social sacrifices, personal consequences, nature's recovery, and the new normal.

The book, edited by Arianna Rinaldo, seeks to be a compendium of this period of history, distinguished by unique events that have affected different parts of the world in similar ways, while producing side effects characterised by cultural and social particularities.

Punctuated by chapters on different themes, A Time of Distance aims to portray the events, reactions, and widespread mood. It does not seek to be exhaustive, but instead offers a wide range of stories from various places around the world. The ultimate objective is to serve as a testimony and a space that collects significant visual accounts of this historical phase. It is a resource to which we can return to try to understand what happened, how, and why; and to remember a period during which humanity as a whole was forced to press "pause" together.

A Time of Distance positions itself as the repository of a collective historical memory, helping to prevent us from forgetting the time of separation that we all had to endure and survive, each in our own way.