Coronavirus has brought schools and businesses to a screeching halt. The streets are empty, and so are grocery shelves. While most people are adapting to the new normal, local student of the Herron School of Art and Design, Harrison Higgs, is documenting some of the sudden, daily changes through the medium of photography.
Born and raised in rural Southern Indiana, Higgs came to Indianapolis to pursue a degree in the craft that he fell in love with in high school, and was set to graduate from Herron in May. Although the crisis has cancelled classes and graduation, it also presented a unique opportunity to artists to capture the extraordinary circumstances.
Before the pandemic struck, Higgs says that his work focused on subjects like the human condition, and domestic spaces. Now he says, “What I am trying to do is provide documentation of this weird, liminal time during COVID-19.” This manifests itself in somber images that emphasize the loneliness that most everyone is feeling right now.
Beyond documentation of the pandemic, Higgs also aims to provide social commentary, explaining, “This body of work has inspired a series focusing on social commentary in a tumultuous atmosphere that has become prevalent not only in the United States, but on an international scale as well.” He hopes that “this series sparks internal conflict, thought process, and debate,” amongst his audience.
