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Todd Biss
Autumn Bland photo by Todd Biss
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photo by Autumn Bland
by Madeline Myers and Nora Vinson photos by Autumn Bland
Autumn Bland
When Autumn Bland saw an old photo of a nurse outside a hospital during the 1918 Spanish flu, she thought about how we are living in a similar historic moment. “As a photographer, I felt like this needed to be documented,” she says. “It is a scary, dark time. But I wanted to honor those who are able to work [and] respect and acknowledge those who are staying at home.”
Bland began her “Portraits of a Pandemic” photo series to capture the contrast of what life in The 330 looks like during the new coronavirus crisis. The series includes powerful black-and-white photos of essential workers and vibrant colorful shots of stay-at-home life. Bland personally experiences both sides as her partner works full time at Eddy’s Bike Shop while she works from their Akron home and watches their toddler.
Bland’s portraits remind us, even in our darkest moments, community members grow stronger and make it through together. When we lift each other up, we emerge more united.
“My hope is when people look back on this time, they’ll remember this photo series,” Bland says, “these different people who had different jobs or lived in different areas stuck together, social distanced and figured out a way to make the best of everything.”
Get a look at the faces she captured.
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Autumn Bland
John Earnest stays in his West Akron home while his wife of 50 years, Beverly, works as a scrub tech in surgery at Summa Health System.
“This pandemic has put a value on human life. People are kinder. They seem to be more considerate.
We’re all suffering, the entire world, from the same scare. That’s not black, it’s not white, it’s not Asian. It doesn’t matter what color you are — you’re at the same risk. [I hope] this pandemic finally opens the eyes of every person to see there is only one race that inhabits this planet — and that’s the human race.” — as told to Nora Vinson
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Autumn Bland
Nineteen-year-old Hunter Morrow is a National Guard private first class from Bolivar, Ohio, assisting at the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank and other food security programs.
“I’m not deployed, but I’m still helping people. It brings me joy. I bring them food, and they have a big smile.
It’s hard not to see my loved ones as much. My mom has diabetes. I can’t be around her.
Don’t take the time you have with your loved ones for granted. Enjoy time with them while it’s still there.” — as told to Madeline Myers
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Autumn Bland
Bonnie Calcei is a letter carrier for the U.S. Postal Service and a single mother working 8-hour shifts five days a week on her Cuyahoga Falls route.
“I know people need us out there. I have a lot of customers that get medication through the mail.
I have my daughter at home. It’s hard to leave her, but it’s what I have to do.
I’ve always been a hugger, so it’s hard for me not to. People need hugs. I’ll just celebrate with the rest of the world when we feel at ease and we add this to the list of many things we’ve worked through.” — as told to Nora Vinson
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Autumn Bland
Ross Dilley regularly has to leave the Highland Square apartment he shares with his husband, Arnie, for shifts in the meat department at Whole Foods in West Akron.
“There was mass panic where everybody shopped. The shelves were kind of empty. It’s starting to get back to normal. I’m happy people started to wear gloves and masks.
My mother was a nurse practitioner. In the ‘70s, she was active in a swine flu inoculation. I remember you have to arm yourself against a common enemy in regards to good hygiene. I had that in my mind. I did build up the cupboards and got ready to hunker down for what seemed to be a battle.” — as told to Nora Vinson
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Autumn Bland
Robert Holmes is a lab analyst at the Akron Water Supply treatment plant. When quarantine began, he lived on-site in an RV for two weeks to avoid contamination.
“Having to live at work is a little disorienting. The isolation is a little hard to deal with.
At least one of the analysts has been very sick. That’s one of the reasons we went on lockdown. We take our temperature. We can’t have no one well enough to test the water. 300,000 people rely on us for clean drinking water.
It was very scary, it got real for me, so I’ve been coping by having Google Hangouts with friends. I knew it was serious, but I didn’t know it would be this bad or affect me this personally.” — as told to Nora Vinson
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Autumn Bland
Emily Butcher leaves her Akron home for 12-hour nursing shifts at Akron Children’s Hospital. In the spring, she helped her 11-year-old son, Carter, with his schoolwork remotely.
“I'm calling him [Carter] and making sure he's not stuck in his work. In that way, this has been difficult because he’s sort of home schooling himself with me on the phone. But I know my job is necessary now.
On your way into work when you're slightly scared and you don't know what's going to happen, you see these little inspirational quotes on the sidewalk. People have been writing in sidewalk chalk. That's been really nice. There's a lot of people chipping in and doing what they can to help.
We have felt so safe for so long. [We thought] this happens to other people in other places, but it can happen here. It is happening here.
I feel very prepared and very supported. The hospital has been proactive. We've done simulations — what it would be like to take patients to the operating room with COVID-19. We have new PPEs, and we’ve gone over it and over it to make sure that all of our body surfaces are covered, make sure we know how to put it on [and] take it off correctly.
We do our best to stay away from each other and wash our hands nonstop. My hands are dry and cracking cause I've been washing them so much. It's a little draining. By the end of the day when you get home and close the door, you're like, OK, I can take a breath now.
Personally, I have been really inspired by a lot of people. The entire world has really stepped up. For the most part, it's brought the best out in every human.” — as told to Madeline Myers
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Autumn Bland
As a father of two living in Akron and owner of the Social Dept. clothing company and Ohioboy Art & Design Co., Andy Taray has found new ways to run his businesses and entertain his kids.
“We support a small family and we run everything through these two businesses. It’s pretty crushing, but I’m not by any means the only one.
It’s wrapping your head around it and coming up with a new plan of attack. You learn how to be resourceful, trying to come up with new ways to reach people. People are struggling, so we’ve tried to sort of sit back and let people know we’re here.
We hope to use it as a time to go down different paths and try different printing techniques. We’re always doing new designs, new series.
It’s just going to be this weird time. You could sit back and say, That was the worst time of our lives, or you could try to find some positives. Being at home, we've taken about 50,000 bike rides and roller skate rides and all kinds of stuff. My son is 5, he’s learning how to ride his bike. He’s all excited. We'll remember this time for positive things like that.” — as told to Nora Vinson
