Photos: Donatas Damarodas ©
“When it’s becoming a habit, you dress-up just to go out of your room or to go for some groceries – after all, nowadays it’s like a celebration. Your kitchen becomes a restaurant and your home becomes a five-star hotel. Don’t let yourself down, just do what delights your soul and gives it a fulfilment!
The idea came as a surprise, talking to a friend on the phone and joking about all the jobs moving into the virtual world. At that time, I asked myself why I can’t do a virtual photoshoot? After all, I’m in charge of the creativity and I can control the camera remotely by simply asking to put it in a certain place. I did many screenshots when I talked to my friends through the facetime or skype before the quarantine and made fun of an idea making photoshoots through facetime. But quarantine put this idea into practice. Currently, this is just one of the few options for photographing people. So, to implement the idea, at the start of the quarantine, I wrote to my model friend: “let’s try the webcam shoot”. I was glad she agreed, and we did a bit of a comically absurd photoshoot right away that reflects the current situation. On the same day, I saw that another photographer, Alessio Albi, shared a photo session of the same concept, I was surprised that the same idea came to the minds of several photographers. But it’s the 21st century, and it’s quarantine… perhaps not such an unexpected idea, after all, it’s almost the only camera-like tool and “real” contact with people. I notice more and more photographers in the world organizing this kind of photoshoots, and I am very happy about that, we can’t stop making art. QUARANTINE IS JUST FOR OUR BODIES, NOT OUR SOULS!” said Donatas Damarodas.
P.S. Several photos inspired by Paulius Žižliauskas
Photographer / Art director: Donatas Damarodas
Model: Gabija Rostovskytė
Assistant: Dovilė Rostovskytė
