I’m drawn specifically to the door in this photograph. Although there is no subject (person) in the image, we still get a sense of isolation. It reminds me of “Nighthawks” by Edward Hooper. Four (likely estranged) people are seen in a diner where the lights beautiful illuminate a sleeping, empty town. Ironically, we’re unable to see a door to the diner in this painting, giving us an even more isolated feeling when we look at it.
Lighting is important as it suggests a way to “look at” isolation. This is what I see in Dayla’s photo. However, I also think of an interrogation. Light is shed on a potential subject sitting isolated from society and all of its distractions, to systematically arouse an appropriate response. No matter how long it takes. There is obviously a door in an interrogation room, but the anxiety, pressure, and suspicion can make it feel like it has no value. The light hardly illuminates the door as to emphasize its lack of significance. Here is a door that can represent freedom, but at the same time can easily suggest containment.
In the time of COVID 19, we are contained, quarantined, can feel imprisoned, and can see isolation in a whole new light. We are all suspects and can easily affect one another. The irony is in the suggestion that enforced solitude can make us feel all alone, despite being all together. We are all isolated, and the more distant we become, the longer we remain this way, the better for everyone.
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