Studio.News. 05.22: Pandemic Social Space
as observed and written by Jesse Janzen, Studio Associate
It’s June, 2020. The lockdown drags on. Life sucks. Then… my phone rings.
“I feel like I’m dreaming!” Lawrence sounds like caffeinated sunshine. At the top of his lungs, Lawrence beams: “WE HAVE A SHOOT!”
This is the best, loudest news in months. His gleeful tone, though, takes a sudden turn. “There’s just one problem… We have no models.”
Normally I would say: “No models? Hey! No problem! I’ll grab someone strolling down the sidewalk and shove them into the picture!” I relish coxing hesitant passers-by into the splendor of Lawrence’s frame. If I offer a unique talent, it’s filling a photo with reluctant people. But Covid lockdown means absolutely zero sidewalk strollers.
“So will the pictures just be empty?” I ask. It’s a bleak thought. The pride and joy of each Lawrence Anderson image is two-fold.
First: The best angle of the space anyone’s ever taken, or ever will. Lawrence once told me he wakes in the night, haunted by the perfect angle.
Second: Lawrence’s signature Social Space. After all, every design we photograph has an ultimate function…to serve people.
And this is where Lawrence really shines: the living interaction between space and the people for whom its built. A shot without people sounds, well, lifeless. But Lawrence’s voice brightens. “I have an idea.”
The lockdown drags on.
Life sucks.
No models? Hey! No problem! I’ll grab some passers by and shove them into the picture!
When we’re not assisting Lawrence we’re actors, and he’s just cast us in one of our strangest roles yet: being 5 - 10 different people in each image.
Problem Solved.
Lawrence hires me and my girlfriend. “You two live together, less chance of infection.” Fair enough. “And…” here comes the big swing, “You’re both actors.” True, when not working with Lawrence, Leah and I have acting careers. But what the hell does that have to do with anything? I’d soon find out.
We pack for the single-day shoot:
Toiletries? Check.
Wigs??…Check
15 outfits each???…Check.
Lawrence just cast us in our strangest roles yet: being 5 - 10 different people in each image. My talent for filling the shot has taken a bizarre twist.
And holy mama is it tough. Leah and I fling clothes like cartoon characters racing to change into enough different looks within a tight time window.
Meanwhile, Lawrence is FaceTiming clients, wrestling face masks, and drowning in hand sanitizer. We roll through the giant vacant building, trying to follow directions from soooo many different people, none of whom can be here. All this while we dodge real-life people like the literal plague, puzzle about how and where to eat when everything is closed, and fear each sneeze is death.
But it works! Lawrence’s innovative push produces grand slam results and gets us back in the game. And while it’s a bumpy year, it’s a year of work. Work that’s only possible due to outside-the-box thinking and new collaborative heights.
And the cherry on top is that I get to say: “I’m half of all the people in the picture!”