We Are Open! Sort Of.

Photo-essay

WHAT DOES THE WORD OPEN MEAN ANYMORE?

Only a few months ago when life felt normal, I would get up early to go to the gym before heading to school on a Monday. And I would go to the movies, or hang out with friends at a bar on the weekends. Even though I took it for granted, ‘open’ felt nice and I liked it. However, all of a sudden, open was gone for an indefinite time and when it came back, it was not the same; it had been stripped down from its full meaning; only the ‘empty space’ remained. The streets were swept from its pedestrians and a weird eerie void prevailed. But again, "open" came back in a partial state. It had lost its warmth and freedom being shut by a face covering. Once the things “got under control” the world began to “open again,” but in a different way. This time around the word open lost the freedom in its meaning. It is now subjected to a number of restrictions that heavily detract from it. In this photo essay, I explore part of Boys Town in the city of West Hollywood. This is a place that boasted of streets full of people and that would never close. But it has now become a ghost town.