It’s a new week, and I must say it appears to have started with a bang. Mom seems to have had a good day, though she spent most of the time she took to drink her evening “Boost” to tell me all about Margaret, someone I sincerely doubt either of us have ever met. Ah the joys of taking care of a 92 year old.
At work, things seem to be picking up a bit for us. This morning we started the day with a real estate photo shoot for a local builder. I love these shoots. The houses are empty, there is no family there to slow the process down, and there are no pets around to poop where you want to stand. We’ve met some lovely people shooting real estate, but families selling their homes are often highly strung, and irrational about just how good their living room furniture looks to prospective buyers. Can I just remind the planet that all that furniture is goes away with the sale. Stop pretending that your tattered mid-century sofa and blond dining room set is going to sell the house.
Then there’s the drone. People are fascinated by the drone, and inevitably all wander outside to watch Bogdan fly the camera over their property. My job is to try to explain to the crowd that, if they can see the drone, the drone can see them. That means they’re appearing in the picture and they need to get back in the house.
We then had a fine art photography gig, followed by a zoom meeting with another real estate agent, followed by another fine art photo shoot. We have a video production tomorrow morning, and more fine art later in the week. No one of these jobs bring in loads of cash, but they do add up… and we’re thrilled to get them.
So there definitely appears to be some return to normalcy happening around us. I don’t know if that’s a good thing, given the pandemic and people’s apparent fatigue with social distancing.
So what’s a small creative business to do? I am desperate for work, but I don’t want to host events that might infect my collectors. Nor do I want to bring any infection home to Mom, and the invisible Margaret. I feel so passive in the process, and what’s worse is that I am allowing strangers to dictate how safe my environment is.
But I have to constantly remind myself that we’re all trying to figure out how to navigate in this new world. Customers are trying to normalize their lives and businesses too, and with such confusion coming at us from the government, it’s a wonder we can venture out at all.
But through all the false starts, insecurities and uncertainties, it felt a little bit like the old day in the studio today. I was reminded just how much I enjoy my job, and how much I’ve missed being busy and productive.
John Bishop Fine Art 