Fernanda Gándara

Photography

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On April 22 2020, Governor Tom Wolf (PA) outlined a three-phase plan for reopening Pennsylvania businesses, following a color-coded system: Red, Yellow and Green. Philadelphia remained in the red phase until June 5th, 2020. These photographs and sto… — On April 22 2020, Governor Tom Wolf (PA) outlined a three-phase plan for reopening Pennsylvania businesses, following a color-coded system: Red, Yellow and Green. Philadelphia remained in the red phase until June 5th, 2020. These photographs and stories were captured during that time.

The West Philadelphia Pandemic Diary (WPPD) collected stories from neighbors in West Philadelphia, during the COVID-19 Quarantine. Stories were collected in May 2020, just around the murder of George Floyd and the series of protests that started in … — The West Philadelphia Pandemic Diary (WPPD) collected stories from neighbors in West Philadelphia, during the COVID-19 Quarantine. Stories were collected in May 2020, just around the murder of George Floyd and the series of protests that started in response. Therefore, stories of quarantine were also stories about racial injustice and about hope for the future.

[On George Floyd’s Murder]“First of all, when he took that knee and he had that knee on him, he had other cops there, they could have said hey man, c’mon…all of them were haters…they didn’t care.“ — [On George Floyd’s Murder]
“First of all, when he took that knee and he had that knee on him, he had other cops there, they could have said hey man, c’mon…all of them were haters…they didn’t care.“

[On Philadelphia feeling like home]“Philly is the first place to ever feel like a true home to me, and in the pandemic, it meant a steady pulse of camaraderie, compassion, neighborliness, art, and even despair. Each day I am glad to call it my place… — [On Philadelphia feeling like home]
“Philly is the first place to ever feel like a true home to me, and in the pandemic, it meant a steady pulse of camaraderie, compassion, neighborliness, art, and even despair. Each day I am glad to call it my place.”

El 22 de abril del 2020, el gobernador de Pennsylvania Tom Wolf decretó un plan de tres etapas para reabrir es estado. La zona roja implicaba quedarse en casa y un cierre completo de locales comerciales “no esenciales”. Filadelfia se mantuvo en la z… — El 22 de abril del 2020, el gobernador de Pennsylvania Tom Wolf decretó un plan de tres etapas para reabrir es estado. La zona roja implicaba quedarse en casa y un cierre completo de locales comerciales “no esenciales”. Filadelfia se mantuvo en la zona roja hasta el 5 de junio del 2020. Filadelfia acoge a un número importante de estudiantes extranjeros, muchos de los cuáles tuvieron que permanecer en la ciudad sin poder visitar a sus familiares en sus países de origen.

[On the duality of the quarantine] “There is so much connection among the three of us and so much disconnection with the rest of the world” — [On the duality of the quarantine]

“There is so much connection among the three of us and so much disconnection with the rest of the world”

[Respecto de estar viviendo la Pandemia en el extranjero] “Tenemos sentimientos mezclados, porque, por un lado, acá estamos bien, somos alumnos de doctorados, podemos hacer nuestro trabajo de forma relativamente normal, igual creo que las interaccio… — [Respecto de estar viviendo la Pandemia en el extranjero]
“Tenemos sentimientos mezclados, porque, por un lado, acá estamos bien, somos alumnos de doctorados, podemos hacer nuestro trabajo de forma relativamente normal, igual creo que las interacciones son importantes y hay cosas que se han ido deteriorando, como el nivel de sueño, o a veces uno no quiere estar más en la casa y hacer algo distinto, pero nuestros ingresos, están bien, o sea no hemos perdido trabajo ni nada por el estilo. Pero también nos da miedo no poder acompañar a las familias si les pasa algo, pero también sentimos que aquí nos estamos evitando un poco las cosas que se están poniendo muy feas en Chile, también acá estamos más protegidos en ese sentido.”
“En Chile va en aumento esto de la curva, me pasa que siento yo que estoy viviendo esto por segunda vez. Me pasa un poco que cuando nosotros estábamos en esa parte como más alta de la curva…acá aumentó la incertidumbre y el nerviosismo, pero ahora que, en mi país, que las personas que yo más amo están allá, están viviendo eso, siento que es como ‘ay de nuevo’, entonces siento que estoy viviendo todo esto dos veces”

[On the awesomeness of the block/neighbors]“There is a Facebook group just for this block, I think it was the first time I went shopping after we have gone into “stay in home” or whatever you wanna call it and just had gone to the co-op down there, … — [On the awesomeness of the block/neighbors]
“There is a Facebook group just for this block, I think it was the first time I went shopping after we have gone into “stay in home” or whatever you wanna call it and just had gone to the co-op down there, and while I was waiting in line I posted ‘if anybody needs anything, I am here’ and I hadn’t gotten any request for that but then when I got home after shopping, I realized I had forgotten celery, and with some of the health stuff I mentioned I have been juicing celery, drinking it most days, and it has been helpful, it is not my insulin, it is not that essential, but helps me to feel better, so I had put that up on the Facebook group, and said ‘I just did all the shopping, I am not planning to go back for a while and I forgot this thing, if anyone goes in the next couple of days just let me know an I will pay you back’. Celery just keeps appearing at my door, even now.”

[On COVID and its impact on the Afro-American Community] “This disease, Corona 19, is gonna wipe out almost a whole race of people, because people are not following the rules and people are not paying attention, this disease was governed towards the… — [On COVID and its impact on the Afro-American Community]
“This disease, Corona 19, is gonna wipe out almost a whole race of people, because people are not following the rules and people are not paying attention, this disease was governed towards the Afro American people, it was, that is just the way I feel, even though anybody can get it, but this, because of our poor healthcare, because of our lack of education, because of all the things that hinder us from being able to excel and grow in life”

[Respecto de lo primero que se les viene a la cabeza cuando piensan en la cuarentena]“La palabra que se me viene más fuerte a la cabeza es ‘montaña rusa de emociones’. Esta cuarentena me ha hecho sentir emociones demasiado variables. De repente sent… — [Respecto de lo primero que se les viene a la cabeza cuando piensan en la cuarentena]
“La palabra que se me viene más fuerte a la cabeza es ‘montaña rusa de emociones’. Esta cuarentena me ha hecho sentir emociones demasiado variables. De repente sentir mucha energía, como de hacer cosas nuevas, y variadas, y de repente como de estar cansada, de querer ver gente, del contacto social, incluso no necesariamente interactuar con otras personas que conozco, pero ver gente. Como esta necesidad del contacto social, me he dado cuenta de cuanto más importante de lo que yo esperaba, es en mi vida.”
“Para mí la cuarentena ha sido bien peculiar porque estoy en una etapa de mi vida y sobre todo en la etapa del doctorado, en donde el nivel de trabajo es super super intenso, y el trabajo que hago es completamente no presencial, yo puedo estar a distancia y hacer absolutamente la misma cantidad y calidad de trabajo que hacía antes estando en la oficina, entonces en ese sentido siento que he llenado los espacios que antes teníamos más de vida social o de hacer otras cosas, con trabajo, y eso me ha mantenido ocupado y en el ánimo me lo ha mantenido ok. Al mismo tiempo, me he ido cansando un poco más, la calidad del sueño ha ido empeorando, en términos emocionales ha implicado entrar en más discusiones quizás, y quizás las únicas dos preocupaciones que tengo por la pandemia es uno, que afortunadamente hasta el momento no hemos tenido ni Montse ni yo ningún familiar ni amigo cercano que haya sido afectado por la pandemia en términos de salud de manera significativa, eso a veces me asusta un poco por la realidad de lo que está ocurriendo en Chile y porque nuestros abuelos nuestros padres son personas de edad, y lo otro, que no lo he pensado mucho porque he seguido como en la máquina es que este año yo el próximo año Montse, nosotros íbamos a buscar trabajo y si bien seguimos trabajando como si nada, hay que empezar a asumir que las condiciones laborales en Estados Unidos y en el mundo van a ser bastante difíciles desde este año y por lo menos en un par de años más.”

[On her program BUDWISER] “BUDWISER is ‘building urban development wiser’ is all about taking the negative and turning it into something positive. I truly believe that as Afro-Americans, that the foundation of civilization came from the work of our … — [On her program BUDWISER]
“BUDWISER is ‘building urban development wiser’ is all about taking the negative and turning it into something positive. I truly believe that as Afro-Americans, that the foundation of civilization came from the work of our hands, of our hands. We have let this piece of paper called the ‘Diploma’ define who we are, we have let that piece of paper rob us from our dreams, we have left that piece of paper stop us from reaching the stars, we have left that piece of paper say who we are and what we can and cannot do. I refuse to let that piece of paper stand between what could be and what should be. I refuse to. I do have a plan”

[On doing art during the quarantine] “I have been working these days on a new series, ‘meditations’, about the pandemic situation, and it is all about the isolation and also the connections between some people” — [On doing art during the quarantine]
“I have been working these days on a new series, ‘meditations’, about the pandemic situation, and it is all about the isolation and also the connections between some people”

[On COVID and race] “The visibility of the health disparities in this country, not that everyone always reads those kinds of articles in the New York Times or whatever, but it’s just undeniable that racism is affecting people” — [On COVID and race]
“The visibility of the health disparities in this country, not that everyone always reads those kinds of articles in the New York Times or whatever, but it’s just undeniable that racism is affecting people”

[On literacy, education and race] “When I look at so many stories on television, a certain time when they had black Afro-Americans…and they showed these stories, and they showed how people, black people, could read and they had an undergrad, but they were teaching them to read, because, they couldn’t just read like out, like, openly and that is just an example of it, and when you start school, when you are getting an education and you start reading words - apple, spot, Jane, mother - and you are excited about it cause you are learning something, and then for somebody to tear you down and take that away from you, it makes you feel inferior, and you don’t really develop to believe in yourself until you face it, until you become an adult.” — [On literacy, education and race]

“When I look at so many stories on television, a certain time when they had black Afro-Americans…and they showed these stories, and they showed how people, black people, could read and they had an undergrad, but they were teaching them to read, because, they couldn’t just read like out, like, openly and that is just an example of it, and when you start school, when you are getting an education and you start reading words - apple, spot, Jane, mother - and you are excited about it cause you are learning something, and then for somebody to tear you down and take that away from you, it makes you feel inferior, and you don’t really develop to believe in yourself until you face it, until you become an adult.”

[On subliminal thoughts]“We walk around there (the park) all the time, and in the cemetery too, its so beautiful there and I appreciate that they have nice signs that are like ‘don’t die!’” — [On subliminal thoughts]
“We walk around there (the park) all the time, and in the cemetery too, its so beautiful there and I appreciate that they have nice signs that are like ‘don’t die!’”

[On what they missed the most during the quarantine]“Hugging other people. Going to a potluck party and touching people. Can I hug you? Like doing this” — [On what they missed the most during the quarantine]
“Hugging other people. Going to a potluck party and touching people. Can I hug you? Like doing this”

[Respecto de lo más difícil de la pandemia]“Para mí lo más difícil es que uno siempre está proyectándose a futuro, y tiene sus planes, sus proyectos, y estaba en un momento en el que ya estaba a punto de alcanzar un proyecto y se vino esto y fue como ‘Ok. Calmémonos. No ha pasado nada’. Hay que esperar.”“Lo que más me afectó al principio es como que sentí que perdí muchas de las cosas gratas que tenía de estar acá, que tenía el doctorado, las interacciones pequeñas, como tomarse un café con alguien, salir con alguien, con la gente que uno hablaba, hay una buena razón por la que uno se viene a estudiar afuera y no se queda estudiando en internet” — [Respecto de lo más difícil de la pandemia]
“Para mí lo más difícil es que uno siempre está proyectándose a futuro, y tiene sus planes, sus proyectos, y estaba en un momento en el que ya estaba a punto de alcanzar un proyecto y se vino esto y fue como ‘Ok. Calmémonos. No ha pasado nada’. Hay que esperar.”
“Lo que más me afectó al principio es como que sentí que perdí muchas de las cosas gratas que tenía de estar acá, que tenía el doctorado, las interacciones pequeñas, como tomarse un café con alguien, salir con alguien, con la gente que uno hablaba, hay una buena razón por la que uno se viene a estudiar afuera y no se queda estudiando en internet”

[On the hardest thing during the pandemic]“The pandemic has represented absolute effort alongside absolute helplessness. I have seen more struggle than ever before, in rather nonobvious ways, but have been expended and scrambling to have enough to give of myself.” — [On the hardest thing during the pandemic]
“The pandemic has represented absolute effort alongside absolute helplessness. I have seen more struggle than ever before, in rather nonobvious ways, but have been expended and scrambling to have enough to give of myself.”

[On the rare opportunities of the pandemic] “Curiously, (the pandemic) has been an opportunity to help some other people, to add them to my crew. I have added PhDs, MDs, because they lost their jobs.” — [On the rare opportunities of the pandemic]

“Curiously, (the pandemic) has been an opportunity to help some other people, to add them to my crew. I have added PhDs, MDs, because they lost their jobs.”

[On the positive moments of the pandemic/quarantine]“The respect for health workers that has come out. I would like to see the respect for other unskilled workers who are still working and keeping our cities going, I’d like to see that respect for teachers grow for what it needs to be,  as someone who works in camping and our industry is effectively on hold, it is both heartbreaking and gratifying to see how much it has meant for people, to want camp to happen, everyone understands why it is not, and some aren’t, so it will be great when we are able to do some of that program again.” — [On the positive moments of the pandemic/quarantine]
“The respect for health workers that has come out. I would like to see the respect for other unskilled workers who are still working and keeping our cities going, I’d like to see that respect for teachers grow for what it needs to be, as someone who works in camping and our industry is effectively on hold, it is both heartbreaking and gratifying to see how much it has meant for people, to want camp to happen, everyone understands why it is not, and some aren’t, so it will be great when we are able to do some of that program again.”

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