Drawing on Contagion

It’s one of the saddest news photos I’ve seen since the coronavirus exploded. (See the caption below, and note the photo credit.)

That is the state of our world right now. But also understand how drawings and photographs are often complex envelopes containing many concerns. Because, in this case, the drawing of the virus also looks like the earth–and the planet Bianca and her peers are inheriting is suffering from many more than what’s keeping them locked inside right now.

Something about the image that gives me pause: notice how the colors of Bianca’s blouse almost perfectly match the colors of the drawing, and how her father’s angle makes it seem like the tendril of the virus could have actually jumped across. It’s like the colors are contagious–just like our bodies can be, and our hopes and fears certainly are. (-Michael Shaw)

Photo: Marzio Toniolo via @ReutersImages #photooftheday⠀

Caption: Two-year-old Bianca Toniolo does a drawing of a microscopic view of the coronavirus on the 14th day of quarantine at home in San Fiorano, one of the 11 small towns in northern Italy that has been on lockdown since February, in this picture taken by her father, schoolteacher Marzio Toniolo.

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