This photo book, featuring abandoned landmarks and barren streets at the peak COVID-19 wave 1, offers a glimpse back to the worst and most uncertain aspects of the pandemic.
Jeffrey Loria, an art dealer, and Julie Loria created ‘Silent Cities : Portraits a Pandemic : 15 Cities Across a World’ using photos from March and April 2020. It was published on November 23, 2018.
The collection, published by Skyhorse Publishing and distributed by Simon & Schuster, includes jarring photos of usually bustling cityscapes bereft of any and all human activity as people and governments navigated the early days of COVID.
Photos from New York, Jerusalem, Tokyo, Paris, London, Miami, Tel Aviv, Madrid, Chicago, Los Angeles, Rome, Rio De Janeiro, San Francisco, Washington, DC are featured in the book.
One photo shows a freeway that leads into downtown Los Angeles, which is usually jammed with traffic at rush hour. It’s shown in front of several skyscrapers.
COVID-19 was found for the first times in Wuhan (China) in December 2019. The virus was first discovered in Wuhan, China by US intelligence agencies. It is believed that the virus may have infected people through an initial small-scale infection which occurred not later than November 2019.
The freeway that leads into Los Angeles from downtown is often clogged with traffic.
London’s iconic Harrods department shop overlooks an abandoned street that only one car passes.
London also has digital billboards that promote Disney+ or eBay.
Silent Cities was created by Jeffrey Loria and Julie Loria, husband-and-wife collectors of art. Jeffrey (81), is the ex-owner of two MLB teams: the Montreal Expos in Montreal and the Miami Marlins. Now the Washington Nationals.
The origins of the virus are still in debate, with US intelligence agencies believing it could have resulted from a laboratory accident or through natural exposure at China wet market, though many believe it was engineered by the Communist regime as a chemical weapon.
China quickly secured the country by publishing the sequence genetics of the virus’s genome on January 5, 2020. The virus was finally confirmed in Thailand eight days later.
On January 20, Washington, the US confirmed the first known case.
On March 11, the World Health Organization declared that the virus was a pandemic. This prompted a rush of safety and security measures, as well as a shortage in everything, from face masks to toilet paper.
Photo from ‘Silent Cities,’ April 10, 2020. It shows Times Square empty and populated by only banners advertising Broadway shows which were on hiatus.
One man rides a bicycle along Bond Street, London. He is looking away at the Allies sculpture that depicts Winston Churchill (former British Prime Minister) and Franklin D. Roosevelt (former US President).
The MacArthur Causeway, Miami: A cruise ship that was docked is eerily vacant as it attempts to stop cruises
The sign warns them to avoid the Eiffel Tower. It is a popular attraction that’s often packed.
In the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Times Square was populated only by signs promoting shuttered restaurants and Broadway shows that were canceled.
One man pedals on his bicycle away from the Allies statue of Winston Churchill in London.
In London, there are digital signs that promote Disney+ streaming services and eBay to anyone at Piccadilly Circus. A second ad advises that people should “stay home.” Save the NHS. Save Lives.
Italy’s locked down residents wore red T-shirts and held them up from their balconies to show respect for the country.
Moderna initiated the first COVID-19 vaccination trial in humans just days after it was declared a pandemic by the WHO.
Global economic turmoil was caused by shutdowns and appeals to people to remain home. Small businesses were forced to shut down, many people lost their jobs, and Americans made more on increased unemployment benefits.
Based on the averages for the first three quarters 2019 and 2020, 9.6 million Americans (16-64) lost their jobs. This is according to Pew Research Center.
Only 2.6 Million workers between 15 and 64 in the European Union lost their jobs during this time, despite having a greater population.
Globally, the virus has claimed 5.26 million lives. More than 780,000 deaths have been attributed to COVID in the US.
Skyhorse Publishing released a statement saying that hospitals were full, subways empty, parks and landmarks deserted, healthcare workers become increasingly tired and frustrated and almost all human activity stopped.
The Great Wall and The Colosseum in photographs look manipulated, but there are no tourists. The book is a visual narrative that documents the emptiness of these places, and offers a means to reflect on it. It’s something that we all have seen, and which is easily relatable a year later.
Un prisoned Italian citizen pays respect to his homeland by recreating its flag with T-shirts
To slow down the spread of COVID-19, a sign is posted at Washington’s Lincoln Memorial.
A woman is looking at her smartphone as a car of police passes her in Paris’ Arc de Triomphe on April 12, 2020.
Midtown Manhattan is unusually quiet in the middle-of-the-day, because governments have been able to deal with the pandemic of March and April 2013 in last year’s New York City
Many small businesses had to shut down due to the closures resulting from stay-at home orders last year. Up to date, approximately 4,000,000 jobs are still lost in the US economy compared with pre-pandemic. Above: Grand Central, Manhattan
Jeffrey Loria (a husband-and-wife art dealer duo, based out of New York City) compiled the book. You can purchase it on Amazon starting at $35
Jeffrey (81) specializes in masterpieces from the 19th- and 20th centuries by Henry Moore and Pablo Picasso. Julie, however, is a specialist in contemporary art.
Skyhorse Publishing published Silent Cities November 23. Amazon has it for sale at $35
Jeffrey was the owner of Major League Baseball’s Montreal Expos and Miami Marlins.
Skyhorse explained that photos depict a wide range of emotions. From the psychological and physical burden of caskets being taken to Rio’s cemeteries to the completely empty Times Square, Rodeo Drive and the patriotic pride shown in Rome’s tee-shirt display celebrating their Italian flag colors and as a symbol to hope, the photos capture a spectrum of emotions.
‘The photographs are not only a reminder of the harrowing pandemic that hushed some of the world’s greatest urban streets, but also proof that across the globe, we were all in this together. There is beauty hidden in the starkness of these photos, and most important, hope.
The Eiffel Tower is shown in Paris as it has been divided behind a rail that bears a warning sign. A sign at Washington, DC warns people visiting the Lincoln Memorial that they should keep their distance “to slow down the spread of COVID-19.”
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the USA, 4 million US jobs are still at risk from the pre-pandemic level. However, the rate of unemployment has gradually recovered to 4.2 percent, compared with a high of 14.8 per cent in April 2020 when mass layoffs started.