by Yvette Depaepe

and Editor Vicente Dolz

In many countries all over the world, the pandemic confinement means that we cannot not leave our homes, we cannot go to work and we cannot … go out to take pictures.

Time to develop our 'inner' creativity.

We still can take 'indoor' and 'outdoor' images right in our close environment to express our current state of mind during this worldwide crisis.

1x released a photographic challenge to capture these rare moments and send in your indoor or 'close' outdoor photographs taken in quarantine.

To participate, upload your photo in your 1x portfolio, send the link together with a few sentences (no word limit) on how you experience these hard days to

Yvette Depaepe (photoma) yvettedepaepe1x@gmail

Editor Vicente Dolz (zlod) [email protected]

(No use to send your images and stories to both of us because we're working together as a team.)

Every week, we will publish an article in which we will collect your contributions.
If your image and story isn't yet in this article, be patient... it will in one of the next articles.

Looking forward to it ...

Stay safe and healthy!!!

Giordano Affolti  – ITALY
A self portrait against the chaos of information in COVID-19 times.
We don't know what to defend ourselves from: what we hear, see or ... say!!!
My family and I live in the defined red zone in Italy, 'locked up' in our homes without the possibility of contact with anyone. Economic activities are all blocked except for basic necessities.  One can only go out with a certification and one has to be alone, wearing a mask and gloves. Problems are huge here and the information we get is very confusing.  We don't have access to reliable information.
We hope for a worldwide solution because we are all involved.

'Terror challenge Freedom' by Giordano Affolti

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daniel penciuc  – ROMANIA

I hope everybody here is doing well in these hard days.
Due to the Corona virus restrictions, like everybody else, we can't travel for photo shooting.  So, I took my daughter outside and we took some pictures in front of a van parked in our street.

 'Ilinca / The journey II' by daniel penciuc

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Fabi Art  – SWITZERLAND
How I deal with the current situation?
That's what I tried to show in the picture - it's annoying but we should keep the humour and try to make the best out of it!

'Corona-Times...' by Fabi Art

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Luca Domenichi  - ITALY
My quarantine started 10/04/2020. At the beginning I thought that it would be possible to go out for work. The evening of the 9^th of April, I came home to organize things after visiting my girlfriend.  As going out  was forbidden, I realized that I would have to spent the quarantine all alone. As most activities including going to work, were forbidden, I decided to stay active and creative, spending most of my time  and energy on my passion: photography.  I started by going through my hard disc watching older shots and clean it up at the same time.  So, I discovered also interesting pictures.  In my photographic amateur group we soon started a kind of competition.  Every three days, one member decided about the theme with as only rule: taking pictures inside your home.  This initiative helped me a lot and I wanted to show something about the quarantine.  That's how I created this portrait called 'Half day'.
Stay well and keep safe, you all!

'half day' by Luca Domenichi

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Tom Gore  – CANADA
 I’ve two great opportunities for these days of quarantine and I am so grateful for them!
One is working in the studio, and the other is working in the garden.

'the studio – my other COVID-19 refuge' by Tom Gore

'my garden – a refuge during COVID-19' by Tom Gore

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Emilian Avrămescu  – ROMANIA
This is a picture taken shortly before quarantine. I processed it to obtain this final result.  It is all about melancholy, but also about the hope that everything will be fine again. Even though it now seems like a dream.  I used the double exposure tool in the Snapseed application to create an overlay.

'Dream' by Emilian Avrămescu

With freedom in our mind, we find subjects even if we are locked in the house. 
The objects we use these days helps us. A little metaphor about waiting, hope and fear at the same time.

'A drop of hope' by Emilian Avrămescu

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Iwona Nabzdyk  – POLAND
In this difficult times of quarantine I sit at home. I work remotely. In my free time I go for a walk with my dog and photograph my favourite motif - still lifes.

by Iwona Nabzdyk

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James Cai  – UNITED STATES
Chicago Cloud Gate aka. The Bean has been an iconical sculpture standing in the bustling Michigan Avenue. On a normal day, thousands and thousands of people from all over the world come to see this magnificent sculpture. to mingle with other people in and under the Bean, and to breathe the raying reflection of ever changing settings. There is no way you can capture a scene without living things.
However, the "shelter in place" order changed the landscape totally. This photo depicted the sculpture on a moody cloudy day, and the orange cone so vividly reminded people what was happening now. Yes it became such a rare occurrence that the virus did to the world.  The Chicago Cloud Gate is a Cone Gate now, people are not allowed even near to it because it was fenced off nowadays.

by James Cai

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Afshin saeidinia  – IRAN
Since the quarantine started, I'm staying home with my wife.  We watch movies and series, we read books.  We buy online all the things we need. I'm also taking many photographs of my wife.  You can see more in my profile.

'Quarantine series' by Afshin saeidinia

'Quarantine series' by Afshin saeidinia

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ule4ka  - UKRAINE
My daughter Diana's birthday this year was celebrated in a different way it used to. There was not a noisy party and lots of guests.  But the celebration nevertheless took place. It was a holiday with family, not so bright as usual, but no less memorable. She made a fancy hairstyle and some makeup, put on a white dress, and we got a fine portrait to please the family. Some helium balloons added a festive mood. Flowers and gifts were sent by home delivery. Well, what is a birthday without photos if mom is a photographer? Have a fun photo shoot at home!  Birthday in isolation is no reason to be sad.

'Happy Birthday' by ule4ka

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Alinegur  – ISRAEL
Everybody in my family is home during the quarantine. My husband works from home and I am dealing with the kids . My son Adam (10 years old) prepares breakfast every morning with something special every day. My daughter Ashley (2 years old) helps him.  Of course, I have to clean up the whole kitchen when they are done ;-)   In the evening, we all dance the Zumba.

'Stop Corona !' by Alinegur

'Anxiety' by Alinegur

'Urban rain' by Alinegur

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Adam Weh  – GERMANY
In my interview for 1x last year I mentioned that apart from dark and moody landscape photography but I also enjoy to do street photography. So I just can't help myself. I need to go out and take photos of everyday life in my home town. It's for a project titled as "Wuppertal in Times Of Social Isolation". Thankfully, here in Germany the restrictions are not that harsh as in other countries. There is no full lock down and quarantine. People still may go out. They just have to follow the rules of social distancing. Most of them, including me, are taking these security precautions serious. From tomorrow on we will have wear masks in the moment we enter shops, authorities etc. I will sure carry one, too.

I try to capture as many moments as possible. Now are scary times that make me worry about my family and my friends. And i hope everything will be over soon. But on the other hand, I know that someday this crisis will be over. And I want to capture this moment as good as possible. I am not really looking for masterpieces. I just want to document the times of corona for future generations.

'Wuppertal in Times of Social Isolation' by Adam Weh

'Wuppertal in Times of Social Isolation' by Adam Weh

'Wuppertal in Times of Social Isolation' by Adam Weh

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Sayed Habib Bidel  – AFGHANISTAN
We do not have many facilities in Afghanistan.Most of our people live in economic poverty but have just enough money to buy masks and gloves.My family and I have no contact with anyone. We haven't been out of the house for about 50 days, except for buying medicines and food.Before entering the house, the person who went out has to desinfet clothes and what was bought. Our country cannot take any action.

That's the bitter truth about our lives in Afghanistan. We are in danger here in every way.  We do not have freedom, we cannot benefit and use the environment, there is insecurity.  And now the Corona virus has increased the pressure. This  image is telling the world that we do all what we can to prevent our people against Corona and that we are fighting the virus in every way possible.

'Stay Safe' by Sayed Habib Bidel

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AndrewJordan  – RUSSIA
A global pandemic, the first in this century. The governments of each country have introduced emergency regimes and quarantines on their territories, which provide for the self-isolation of citizens in their homes. This has been going on all spring and continues on. The life of a healthy person is no different from the life of a sick person - life movement is limited to the limits of housing, and needs are limited to the purchase of food and medicine. Panic, despondency, and depression do more harm than the virus. Spring, heal us!

'Spring vs COVID-19' by AndrewJordan

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Alexander Karman  – UKRAINE
I'm sitting at home, and I'm fine.  I have a dog and a friend in a neighbouring house. During the weekends I see my family.

'quarantine still life' by Alexander Karman

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Goran Jordanski  – SERBIA
Photo is taken at home in isolation during the Coronavirus pandemic in Serbia. Serbia has a state of emergency for the whole second month, and a curfew more days every week and absolutely quarantine and isolation. The photo shows the main elements and necessary things to combat a pandemic at home in a single family, although in these conditions it is very difficult to get some of these things, so the idea was to record it this way.

'Corona basic kit' by Goran Jordanski

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 Catherine Wang  – UNITED STATES

This year, I wanted to broaden my horizons and step onto a more professional platform for photography, like 1X. As amateurish as I was, I worked hard and strove to improve my skills, as well as establishing my foundation in different photography styles.

During quarantine, I had more time to focus on photography and diligently pursued still life for a while.  Quarantine causes many issues in society, such as unemployment; however, it ultimately keeps us relatively safe and allows us to spend more time on both our families and the finer points of life. Even confined in quarantine, I can still appreciate nature’s beauty and the delicate art of photography.
Stay safe, Stay healthy, Stay with hope!

The first image is called 'Moment':  When I pick flowers and arrange them in the way I wanted, it's my world for the moment. I want to give that world to people around me, so they see the thing of pure beauty.

'Moment' by Catherine Wang

The second image is called 'Spring': Spring usually refers to rebirth, renewal, hope and growth. With the coronavirus spreading over the world, this Spring season is different. however, the seasonal symbolism for Spring has not changed...

'Spring' by Catherine Wang

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Azriel Yakubovitch  – ISRAEL
Things are getting a little better here in Israel. Think there is room for a smile. We should not loose our sense of humour. May be it will not heal the sick, but hey, what harm will it do?...

'Self-isolation' by Azriel Yakubovitch

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Bego Amara  – SPAIN
It has been already more than a month in confinement; we all need to adapt and stay at home, safe and healthy. My daughter is everyday fighting against boredom and adapting herself to new ways of spending the long hours. I imagined this image of a strong woman using some flour (so much appreciated these days) in studio, to represent our daily and silent fight against this pandemic.

'Fighting corona' by Bego Amare

In confinement all feelings are intense, and we as photographers feel we the need to document and take our creativity with the camera in the house. Sometimes people around are disturbed and they suffer from our constant way of chasing that "great" moment. My husband returned his uncomfortable look too, as a silent but very effective response to my "chasing"

'The uncomfortable' by Bego Amare

My own interpretation of Hitchcock's famous movie, Vertigo. Anything can happen in confinement...

'Vertigo' by Bego Amare

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If you want to participate, upload your photo in your 1x portfolio, send the link together with a few sentences (no word limit) on how you experience these hard days to
Yvette Depaepe (photoma) yvettedepaepe1x@gmail
Editor Vicente Dolz (zlod) [email protected]
(No use to send your images and stories to both of us because we're working together as a team.)

Every week, we will publish an article in which we will collect your contributions.
If your image and story isn't yet in this article, be patient... it will in one of the next articles.

Looking forward to it ...