Aesop.
Eden.
Jac+Jack.
Sydney photographer and art director, , shared with us a personal series of images he’s been working on during the . Captured during afternoon walks to the supermarket, Traianos has photographed retail stores in his North Bondi neighbourhood during the lockdown. “Despite the stores being closed, I found a quiet beauty in their temporary stasis: from Aesop’s hand-painted storefront windows, Jac + Jack’s counter-top hand sanitiser, and vegan restaurant Eden’s hastily-stored outdoor seating,” he says.
Call me a hopeless romantic, but I was really drawn to the warmth and the simplicity of these images. I feel like Traianos really captured the current mood in his series – the images feel warm but nostalgic, eerie but hopeful. Much like the times we’re living in right now. To me, they also serve as a little reminder of the importance of observing our surroundings and being conscious of the little daily things we may take for granted. It’s a new take on our new reality if you will.
I had a brief chat with Traianos about this series too. Read on for what he had to say.
LeLabo.
LeLabo.
+ Can you tell us a little more about how this series came about, and your approach in capturing the images?
I more or less walk the same routes every day, between the supermarket and the post office. Around mid-March, I noticed that had painted their shop window from the inside—with visible, tactile brushstrokes—and I was impressed that even their quick-reaction temporary closure looked good. I photographed it and didn’t really think anything of it until I saw the sunlight picking out the hand sanitiser on a closed counter a couple of days later. I found a quiet beauty in the stores’ temporary stasis.
+ Do these images and your process in capturing them differ from how you usually work, and if so – how?
Yes and no. The way I approached these photographs isn’t so different to how I’d work with a client such as . That said, in my personal work I’m generally only interested in beauty and composition, and I rarely have anything to say, so this set definitely acts as a social document. That’s a new layer for my work, for sure.
Saturdays NYC.
Anonymous North Bondi shopfront.
+ How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your life day-to-day and your work?
I feel extremely fortunate to say that other than the airport and beach closing (rightly so), and of course, some jobs being cancelled, my life is almost the same as I work from home anyhow. It’s also the first time I’ve felt truly “too far” away from my family in Western Australia, despite living abroad in the past. Also as a freelancer, I’m used to some peaks and troughs, and right now it still only feels like a minor trough. Let’s see.
+ How are you feeling right now and how would you like to emerge on the other side of this situation?
I’m feeling calm and patient. A major change has already occurred and I’m doing my best to adapt to how things are, rather than wait for things to return to how they were. Onwards, basically.
+ Any interesting facts or surprisingly realisations that came from this series?
Actually, yes! It’s rare that I photograph or document the city I live in, so to see this series come together with the places I walk past every day has surprised me a lot.
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