Images have an inexplicable power. In some cases, they are stronger than words. In other cases, they replace them. Today, images and photos are all the rage on social networks, capturing people's attention, arousing emotions, sensations, but also a sense of belonging or identification.
Can certain social factors and/or phenomena be analyzed from a sociological perspective starting from images and photographs ? Visual sociology's field of application is the use of photography or other visual media. Today, with digital technology, this field of application has expanded. Visual sociology should be considered a cognitive method of social research.
Visual research is divided into two strands: visual sociology of images, which is both a qualitative and quantitative analysis of images produced for other purposes.
The second strand concerns visual sociology with images. Images and photographs are used to analyze specific social phenomena.
In this article we will try to analyze the reality of our days "interrupted" by Covid-19 using the photos taken by Marco Comito.
The desert in our cities
The Covid-19 pandemic has drastically changed people's lives. Some aspects of daily life have been put on hold : schools closed, productivity halted, businesses and restaurants shuttered, streets deserted. All of this has forced people to stay at home and cities have emptied.
Every city has its own history, its own cultural heritage that forms its essence. The city also has its own shape, which takes shape through the intertwining of its streets, the placement of its squares and green spaces, and the morphology of its neighborhoods.
Jane Jacobs argues that the city should not be considered as a space built to be traversed by cars but as a vital nucleus in which urban nuclei characterized by streets that play a fundamental role within the urban context, districts, buildings and green spaces can be found and recovered.
Today, those same streets, which until a few months ago were crisscrossed by pedestrians and cars for a variety of reasons, are empty. And the hashtag #iorestoacasa seems to resonate.
Covid-19 like a fairy tale villain
The Covid-19 epidemic has also drastically changed the lives of millions of children and young people who have been forced to stay indoors, unable to go to school, go out to play at the playground, play sports, or see friends.
Aside from the school-related issues that are raising concerns about the resumption of classes, with the timing and methods still to be determined, even more significant issues are emerging regarding the psychology of children and adolescents.
While pediatricians and educators have consistently emphasized that children need to be with other children, to build so-called " social networks " from an early age, we're also seeing how, following the restrictions imposed to contain the spread of Covid-19, these same children have found themselves, from one day to the next, locked up at home, unable to carry out all the daily activities they used to.
But staying home isn't a good option for everyone. For the most vulnerable children, those with disabilities or living in inadequate environments lacking in care and opportunities, missing school or being with friends has damaging consequences for their well-being and their future.
Baby Smart
Children and young people have found themselves facing a challenge greater than themselves. Some have understood. Others haven't. They're struggling. Online lessons, homework uploaded to digital platforms, connections with teachers and professors. They've become " smart " too quickly. Not to mention the complicated issue of children of working parents, which, with smart working for those who have been able to benefit, has further affected, in some respects, the management of family life.
Because while on the one hand some situations lead to positive outcomes, on the other hand the negative variable is always there ready to jump out.
Children, almost never mentioned in decrees or televised debates, should not and cannot be considered adults. They need their own space, contact with nature, sunshine, the opportunity to run and play, and to be taught how to grow.
While a home is enough for an adult to isolate themselves, the same isn't enough for a child because their needs are different. And many. This situation has, however, brought negative consequences because many are " passive " when it comes to video games, and this leads to a decline in the emotional and psychological state of children, especially those who are only children.
Protocols should also be tailored to children. They are our future. The tension of this period shines through in their eyes, directly or indirectly. Many don't know what death is. They don't understand what a pandemic is. But they hear about it. And they stay home, by choice, by obligation. And if they go out for urgent needs with their parents or because containment measures have been eased, they, like little heroes, wear a "mask," the shield that will protect them from the evil monster, hoping that, like in fairy tales, everyone lived happily ever after.
Social distancing
" Social distancing ." It's one of the most used expressions these days, along with the hashtag #iorestoacasa. Covid-19 has severely challenged human contact, and while humans are often called " social animals ," Covid-19 has debunked this concept.
The first to coin these terms was Aristotle. Man is a social animal because he is capable of uniting in groups and building a society. Society , on the other hand, is an organized group of individuals. This, however, should be considered the moment in which he experienced the non-contact phase.
Within every society, individuals establish rules for living and coexisting; without them, anomie would result . In these lines, we have developed two fundamental concepts that can be compared from both a sociological and psychological perspective.
Humans are accustomed to feeling an integral part of groups and subgroups within society. Individuals identify with each group , and each group has characteristics that unite the individuals within it. The social animal feels " in place " with others and part of a community.
As social animals, every human experiences forms of social integration on multiple levels. Consider the integration of children into the school environment, of young people into their peer groups, and the resulting acceptance as members of a group. But also the integration of foreigners, people with disabilities, and adults at certain stages of life.
And while social integration has always been encouraged, there are times when, even though we're part of the same community, the same group, we need to be "distant." And so the same rules for being together become the rules for " not seeing each other ," " not touching ," " not speaking ." Social distancing refers to a set of non-pharmacological infection control measures aimed at slowing and stopping the spread of a contagious disease. Covid-19 has contributed to physically distancing us from each other.
Lines at the supermarket, social distancing on public transport, trying not to cross paths with anyone on the same street. And yet more lines to enter a public office, strictly keeping one meter apart, wearing gloves and masks. Few words, little or no contact.
However, while social distancing helps the infection rate decline, which is a positive thing, there are also downsides, precisely because humans are social animals. The disadvantages of social distancing can include loneliness, reduced productivity, and the loss of other psychological benefits associated with human interaction . This should be understood by thinking of the individual as part of a community in which they are immersed on a daily basis.
Covid-19 has drastically changed the lives of every human being, and, like it or not, each of us has learned a lot from this situation. It's time to wait a little longer, to continue respecting the rules and hoping for common sense . Only in this way can we return to walking our streets, enjoying our cities, the nature that surrounds us, and perhaps, who knows, each of us will feel the need to love ourselves a little more, to love others, and to respect the environment around us. After all, society is our home and as such, it needs to be cared for and loved.
#it will all be fine
I graduated in Sociology with a specialization in Social and Territorial Policies, and earned a master's degree in E-Government and E-Management in Public Administration. I love reading and writing. For me, sociology means experiencing everyday life in all its nuances and nuances. Today, I am an Administrative Assistant at the IRCCS Burlo Garofolo in Trieste, and above all, I am a wife and mother, the greatest asset of all.
