This project started with my longing to talk to strangers.
Thinking a lot about intimacy and isolation, I started photographing my street encounters with couples who were spending their quarantine together in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Talking to these couples, staying 6 feet away from them and maintaining the rules of social distancing, I found a way to connect with them as they told me their stories.
“Since we’re both people who have constantly been on the go and working non stop, this period has allowed us to centre ourselves and hold each other close during these unprecedented times. We are both lucky in the sense that we both have someone to share everything with, in times where people are told to keep 6 feet apart.’’ – Ricardo
“We are dating! We met each other during quarantine on tinder so that has had a big emotional effect.’’ – Molly
“I work at the Brooklyn Methodist hospital and this pandemic has been awful emotionally. I have seen so much death in my field in just a single day, and the first few weeks out , the hospital couldn’t provide us with adequate PPE. Very scary times when you don’t know what you’re going into each day taking care of these patients. Quarantining together has been a challenge, especially in a small NYC apartment, but we’ve been managing to stay sane by cooking and baking.’’ – Maddy
“Quarantine has been hard and we realised that we thrive by giving each other their proper space and alone time that we need. We have a lot of anxiety and we are very unsure of our future. Zack still has his job but I am unemployed because I work in the service industry. Thankfully he can focus on work and I can focus on my art, it keeps us sane.’’ – Desty
“It’s been an emotional whirlwind really. Rocco’s sister was diagnosed with cancer just before the pandemic hit, and we were out in Seattle at the time and had to very suddenly move back here. These past few months, many friends and loved ones have past away and it’s been devastating. Other than that, aside from not working, things haven’t changed much. We’ve been married for 6 years. We have always been introverted, it’s nice having a lot of quality time together.’’ -Moon
Deira: “We clash a lot, you know me and her, we are people’s people, we enjoy being around society. I am used to working under pressure, I am used to movement and not being able to move, being stiff , being in the house and not doing much and just looking at each other.’’
Kita: ’’But we have gotten to know each other more, certain things we like and we don’t like, our main concern is our family and keeping them safe.’’
“As for being quarantined together, couldn’t have been any better because the more time I spend with her, the more I fall in love with her. I can literally be with her 24/7/365 and won’t ever get tired of her, ever.’’ -Jimmy
“It is definitely a change to process. I think there are some days when everything is fine and we have lots of energy and some days when it’s low energy, don’t want to get out of bed and just fatigue.’’ -Berta
“We’ve been taking quarantine as seriously as we can, staying inside as much as possible, wearing appropriate protective gear, and taking walks within reason. The city has a history of bouncing back from anything thrown its way, and we’ll be here for the rebound when it happens’’ -Teddy
“We started seeing each other around New Years. We try to stay occupied and go for walks now that the weather is nice, but it doesn’t feel like real life right now. We both have our own spaces, so we switch off where we stay and take a few days in between to recharge alone.’’ – Daniel
“We met online (tinder) about 4 years ago. We are living together for the quarantine in my studio apartment, I’m working full time remotely so financially not much has changed but Asher has been furloughed because he works at a bar. Been spending all our time together which is different than non quarantine times when we had somewhat opposite schedules but we have been fine really. Asher has been great about running errands and cooking while I work’’ – Emily
About Roshni Khatri
Roshni Khatri was born in New Delhi, India in 1996. She graduated with a bachelors in media and communications from the University of Delhi in 2017. She was freelancing as a photographer during her bachelors. She moved to Mumbai to work as an associate producer and an assistant DOP at a film production house called The Wedding Filmer. Roshni is currently based in New York and she is a full-time student in the Documentary Practice and Journalism program at the International Center of Photography. [Official Website]