Relearning Humanity

Rui Caria, Portugal

I can‘t get home and not kiss my daughter“; “When the pandemic started, I was afraid they wouldn‘t come. But they always came“; “I miss them all, and my grandchildren“; “I‘m not scared, I know everything is going to be okay and I only think about helping“; “I hope it will pass quickly because the house, without them, is empty“; “I never thought, in my life, to sew protective masks“.

These were some of the many outburst phrases that I have been hearing from people in the past two months. The pandemic changed the world. Somehow, life will never be the same. There is now, the “new normal“. From this experience, which has not yet passed, I think we can already draw some conclusions. But perhaps the most important is the need to relearn humanity. In the last few months, I have witnessed, through the words and images I was collecting, the appearance of the human condition that seemed to be forgotten; the care for the other. I saw people helping other people, sometimes without wanting to know about themselves. And that is the renewal of hope. It‘s incredible.

Discover more: Shortlist 2020