Photographs from the COVID-19 France quarantine.

When the first COVID-19 quarantine lifted last year, I hurriedly threw together a blog post so that I would remember it all. It all happened so quickly as we hastily packed up for the French countryside in the early spring. We were barely out of winter as we bumped down the country roads and lugged our suitcases into the cold stone cottage.

In my suitcase I had packed one camera, a light meter, and a few handfuls of film amongst my clothes. Six or eight rolls would have to last me seemingly indefinitely. There was no end in sight when we left Paris, and we were prepared to be there for a long time…

We were greeted by the throes of winter. Barely a leaf on any of the branches, a barren landscape that stretched endlessly, it seemed, over the undulating hills of Normandy. A beat-down, deteriorating sign (presumably plowed into by a car) signaled our destination from the road. If you didn’t know about it, you would have missed it.

At the beginning of quarantine, I thought I wouldn’t last — it was so cold. The stone walls provided little insulation and the heating was poor. I wore three layers to bed every night, plus socks. Though it never snowed, I wore my down jacket…even inside. The first month passed as we soaked up the golden light that streamed through branches, through windows, and offered shards of warmth. Even the hearth, gargantuan though it was, could not ward off the cold.

We spent those first few freezing weeks practicing archery (they kill the fingers), slugging through the mud of the garden (called the potager), romping through the fields in leaky rain boots, and watching many a sunset.

And slowly, as the days grew longer and the air warmer, we felt it. Hope.

This is the second installment in photographs from the COVID-19 France quarantine. In a series of posts, I’ll be sharing the progression of the seasons as we hunkered down in Normandy. 

I am a San Francisco Bay Area (and soon Birmingham, AL) film photographer specializing in the floral portrait, children, love stories, and (personal) brands. I’m also always ready to photograph destination portraits in Paris & Provence! Want to work together? Get in touch! I’d love to know your story. If you need fine art prints & posters to decorate your home, check out my print shop.