“Even the Cactus Needs a Haircut Now”: This image of a cactus with white hair is a reference to the artist’s white hair and white beard. In response to the pandemic, all non-essential services were closed by the Province, and over time, we will all start to look like cavemen and cavewomen.
“Self-portrait”: A monochrome image of an old man with white hair and beard being photographed. However, the camera does not see the old man, but a white-haired cactus (The Old Man Cactus, Cephalocereus senilis)
Prices for all images (in US$):
$600 for a jpg file for single online use. Pavel Muller retains all rights.
$700 for printed image up to 17”x 22” (full bleed at 17”x22”) printed on fine art archival paper using archival pigment.
We Are the Lucky Ones
Pavel Muller V.3 May 2020
We are the lucky ones. We are healthy. We do not know first hand what it is like to be for days on a respirator with compromised lungs without a single familiar face near us. We do not know what it is like being in a long-term care facility where many people we knew well are now very sick or dead. We do not know what it is like to go to work to take care of the sick without proper protection for ourselves and coming home fearing for the safety of our families. We are lucky because we only know what it is like to be cut off from our friends, families, from the parks, restaurants, jobs and coworkers. We are lucky because we only have to worry about our and the world’s economic future. We only worry that tomorrow, we may be cut from the lucky list. I am one of those lucky ones.
My days are a collage of continuing with a renovation that started early in February, watching our primary contractors navigate skillfully factory closures of suppliers, showroom closures and service closures, trying to keep the apartment tidy and supplied with food in the renovation mayhem, reading and watching news about mounting sick and dead in my city of Toronto, my province, my country and around the world and last but not least continuing capturing and producing a steady stream of photographs in my much shrunken world. I derive a lot of joy, comfort and stability from imagining and creating photographs and noticing details around me that I never noticed before. I think that this experience made me a better photographer.
These 3 images were all taken within the confines of the building where I live and were created in my apartment during this period of isolation. Unlike painters who can paint anywhere based on their imagination, photographers need to start with captured images. It is therefore a challenge to find interesting enough subjects to photograph in such a small space. The three images selected for the show reflect some of my feelings and attempts to use humour to cope constructively with the pandemic during this extended period of isolation.