Unphotgraphable

By Dylan Ramsay

 

April 3, 2020- The days of isolation have blurred into one. Day after day passing by, no real connection to the outside world. The end of March was dreary, I needed some sunlight. I bring my camera outside to catch up on nature, the rooster in the barn next door won’t shut up. Hand sanitizer, gloves, face mask, okay I am ready to go. I don’t touch the doorknob, I kick the door open.

 As I leave, a middle-aged African-american woman in a nurse scrub goes to her home in the middle of the day. Face mask, gloves, the whole get up, grocery bags carrying essential items for her family. She is hobbling to the door. I proceed to aim the camera to take her photo, I stop. I ask if she needs help, she replies,” nothing against you, but I want to keep my distance.” I understand where she is coming from, I acknowledge what she wants. I hold open the door wide (I live in an apartment complex), staying six feet away. She thanks me graciously for holding the door. I close it behind her.

I look down at my camera, “man, that would’ve been a great shot.” I hesitate to think, “Would it have?” My instinct kicked in to help her instead of sitting on the sidelines and taking the photo. Frankly, that is all I have been doing is sitting in my apartment doing nothing but obeying social distancing, this woman is giving her all, not only helping those at the hospital, but to provide for her family. She has seen so much, I couldn’t imagine the horror. She probably wants to see her family, relax, and enjoy her time with them. That is why I didn’t take the photo.