MAP6: The Isolation Project

On 16 March 2020, five members of the MAP6 photography collective flew to Rovaniemi in Lapland to continue an ongoing project on Finland. The COVID-19 coronavirus infection was spreading across the world from China, but its government lied about the seriousness the disease. Within hours of MAP6 arriving in Finland it became clear to the world that COVID-19 was a pandemic with the potential to kill millions. Finland precipitously closed its borders and cancelled all flights. With the country entering a state of emergency, the MAP6 members were stranded. Public buildings were shuttered – museums, schools, restaurants, bars. Events escalated as they watched alarming news updates from their apartment. And so the global lockdown began. For four days the MAP6 photographers documented the crisis from within Finland, whilst awaiting confirmation of a flight home.

This is my contribution to the MAP6 group project.