This is the continuation of the Social Lens series.
Why 'Social Lens'?
It is called Social, because I am interested in everything related to humanity, how people live and act, what we do consciously and unconsciously, how we effect the world around us and treat one another.
Lens in this context refers to -- wait for it -- the lens of the camera I will be using to take the pictures of what I am seeing (that at least is pretty obvious...), but it also refers to my viewpoint - everything I watch and see is observed through my eyes. There isn't really a way around that of course, and as long as one is aware of that it shouldn't be much of a problem. After all, life is experienced individually and every point of view can add to the greater whole.
I have been looking at people's behaviors for the past years and the pandemic was a unique opportunity to see how it has been affected by it
See e.g., here and here. What is now more apparent than ever is that people have gotten used to these new (but ever changing) circumstances. It is in our human "nature" to be able to adapt to change very well in general. While this is a good trait to have as a species, it also means that we can easily forget how life was just a few years before.
We have now become used to all kinds of things that are "normal"; like restrictive areas for people with different immunization statuses
Wearing masks even outdoors with strange rules as seen here below in which people on the left side are allowed to eat without their masks and people on the right having to wear masks just a few feet away. In other words we have gotten used to invisible borders that have been drawn all over the social spaces we inhabit.
And then there are still very few people (under 1%?) that don't follow the rules and a bigger minority that bends them (10%?). For example, you can see a man on the right in the picture below that doesn't wear a mask in the mask area. And there are some people that wear them under their noses etc.
In shops people have gotten used to showing their digital Covid passports as well as their IDs. It is generally being done now by scanning the QR code of customers whereas just several months ago it was rarely scanned. In other words, the rules that have been established are also being refined as well.
For larger stores this can mean that people have to stand in relatively short lines to show their IDs. The people here had to wait for about 1-2 minutes before being able to enter. However, while this isn't something new per se, it does add to the hurdles that people encounter in daily life (which perhaps might be seen only as a mere nuisance)
Technology has made it possible to implement these changes and it seems that it is now more important than ever to discuss as a society how we want to use it. Should this be the new normal?
Note: If the picture(s) in this post depicts yourself or someone you know and you want it removed, please let me know and I will remove it. As street photography is considered to be an art form in my country it enables artists to publish pictures of people in public places.
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