TITLE: Faces and masks in the New Normal

The world won’t be the same after COVID-19. The way we will interact, work, play and rest will drastically change. Face covering is one of these fundamental changes, recreating who we are, how we are perceived. Beyond prevention, it changes the boundaries of ourselves, presents a shield and the possibility to sink into anonymity.

Face masks draw new maps of social distance and proximity and are a new pedagogy of social relations and interactions. Masks open new windows of identity and representation. With half the face covered, we need to explore new ways of approach, retreat and distinction. With colored masks, elastic bands and medical ones, or self-made cloths, portraits in the new normality construct a multi-layered entity.

The use of the social and physical space has been affected, particularly in the street and the public transport, as it is the case with these collective portrays of young boys and girls in a popular neighbourhood in Nairobi, Kenya, which create a world of uncertainty that calls for a rapid understanding and adaptation.

AUTHOR: Eduardo Lopez Moreno (Kenya)

I like to travel and encounter the world with its streets and its people, but the part that corresponds to my interest, my vision and philosophy of life. My photos are a look at someone’s world, a journey into their space and their life; an attempt to build a story without affection, as part of a social commitment.

I present different visual stories that intersect in the streets and in their plurality create a certain connection; a new sense. These images can be regard, a hand, a detail or a full scene; a fixed temporality that captures movement. A piece of something that states a vaster space.

 17 Honorable mentions, International Photography Awards (2016), USA
 1 honorable mention, One Shoot: Climate Change Competition (2017).
 Director’s Award 2017, Cartier-Bresson Passporte Prize, Street Photography
 First place, International Photography Awards (2017), Social Cause.
 Bronze medal, Paris Photo Prize Px3 (2017), Press-Featured Story “Collective Pain”.
 First Place, PHOTO+, PDN Faces Photography Contest (2017), New York
 6 honorable mentions, Monochrome Photography Awards (2017)
 First prize, Smart Arts category, Digital Camera’s Photographer of the Year competition (2017)
 Second place, Black and White Photographer of the Year competition (2018), Fujifilm
 Winner photo, Black Box Gallery, Black and White Competition (2018), USA.
 First place, early Entry winner, PDN, Rangefinder, WPPI, One Life International photography competition (2017)
 Aline Smithson Juror’s Selection, New York Center for Photographic Art, ONE Call (2017)
 Third place, Digital Camera Photographer of the Year (2018), Character Study
 Sony World Photography Awards (2018), ‘Commended’ photo on Portraiture
 Silver Medal, Editorial, General News, Tokyo International Photo Awards (2017)
 ‘Winner Photo Mark of Excellence’, Black and White, ‘I Shot It’ Leica Competition (2018)
 Honorable Mention, Mono-Kromatic competition, Minnesota (2018), USA
 Third Place, International Photography and Arts Community People and Animals, Zebra Black
and White Competition
 Winner 2017, ‘35 Awards – 100 Best Photos of the Year (2017), Black and White category, Moscow
 Third place black and white, Best 100 Photographers of the Year (2017), Moscow
 Royal Photography Society, short-listed, International Photography Exhibition, London.
 Gold in Editorial - Conflict and 1st place winner in Editorial. Moscow International Photo Awards (MIFA)
 3rd Place, Event – Social Cause, International Photo Awards (IPA), curated by Catherine Edelman.
 Top 20 finalists, FOCUS Photo, l.a. Summer edition (2018), Les Rencontres de la Photography, Arles, France.
 National Geographic, Travel Photographer of the Year (2018), Galleries People
 First Place, PDN, NY and Photocrowd, London, Photojournalism in Black and White (2018)
 Honorable Mention, Neutral Density Photography Awards, Professional (2019)
 ‘Winner Photo Mark of Excellence’, City, ‘I Shot It’ Leica Competition (2018)
 2nd place winner, juror Louise Fedotov, Black and White competition, New York Center for Photographic Art (2018), USA.
 American Photography 35 Awards