Urban public space is a space of relationships, shaped by bodies, encounters, ransomness, and a spontaneous order.
If this space is truly public, it can accept nothing but the rules of common sense and not those of imposition. It is a stage for all our lives, whether we wish to be on display or on the sidelines, protagonists or extras in the urban comedy. As in comedy, there is an element of fiction and a hint of truth.
But what happens when the actors leave the stage and bodies are denied access to the space? How do we perceive the streets and squares we normally walk through that remain accessible only to us?
I invited students who have attended the Photography as a Tool for Urban Investigation seminar over the years – but not only them – to send me images documenting public space, the city, and themselves during this period of forced closure. As one person wrote to me, these images are often literally ‘stolen’, as if they felt guilty. Yet documenting and reflecting is an activity that becomes all the more essential as the crisis drags on and affects us all.
Here, I attempt to share what I have received.
All materials are available under a Creative Commons licence:: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0