Disinfecting earth
A digitally curated collection, 2020
Cover photo by Nariman El-Mofty / AP
There is an almost comedic reality to the idea of sanitizing the entire world. And though the situation is completely serious, the process seems Herculean.
As workers fanned out around the world with various tools and in different formations, photographers were close behind to capture this new “normal” of cleanliness.
This exhibit captures a few of the most visually arresting and occasionally comedic scenes captured by those photographers.
A health official wearing in a church in Beirut, Lebanon. March 5, 2020. Hussam Chbaro / Anadolu Agency / Getty
Soldier disinfecting the Department of Land Transportation office. Bangkok, Thailand. March 24, 2020. Royal Thai Army / via AFP - Getty Images
A man walking his dog gets disinfected by a health ministry worker. Rabat, Morocco. March 22, 2020. Fadel Senna / AFP / Getty Images
A utility service worker, wearing a protective suit, sprays sodium hypochlorite to disinfect the fitting rooms of a women underwear store on April 29, 2020 in Milan, Italy. Italy will remain on lockdown to stem the transmission of the Coronavirus (Covid-19), slowly easing restrictions. Emanuele Cremaschi / Getty Images
A municipal worker sanitising the area of the the Giza pyramids. March 25, 2020. Egypt. Nariman El-Mofty / AP
Workers preparing on Tuesday to spray the central railway station. Wuhan, China. January, 2020. AFP/ Getty Images
A worker disinfects crematorium, El Angel, as Peru reached 100,000 coronavirus cases. Lima, Peru. May 2020. Ernesto Benavides/AFP/Getty Images
Municipal workers sanitise public areas. Municipality of Escobedo Nuevo Leon, Mexico. April 9, 2020. Daniel Becerril
Health officials in the Lebanese parliament building. Beirut, Lebanon. March 10, 2020. Hussam Chbaro / Anadolu Agency / Getty
“I will love to uphold the works that our front-line workers are carrying out every day to prevent us. I salute their progress and effort, now it is completely on us as to how we take it.” April 2021. India. Ribhu Chatterjee
A man in protective gear disinfects a shopping mall. Caxias do Sul, Brazil on May 13, 2020. Silvio Avila / AFP / Getty
The photographers
This exhibition is a curation of known professional photographers, as well as images taken by everyday people, capturing the realities of the world during the COVID-19 pandemic. Photographs have been curated from news sources as well as social channels.
Silvio Avila