Soon, the rest of the world would follow.
From April 1 to June 1, citizens were under strict orders not to leave their homes.
And while celebrations broke out as June 1 approached, just 24 hours laterseveral neighborhoodswere under restriction once again.
Though restrictions have since eased slightly, many people are still confined.
This is leading totension and protests, a rarity in this city.
Read on for My Modern Met’s exclusive interview.
Obviously, it’s now touched everyone’s lives.
What’s the biggest change you’ve seen in Shanghai since you took those first photos?
By summer of 2020, life was back to normal.
People had returned to offices, nightlife had resumed, and there was a smug aura of victory.
This level of scrutiny is what earned Shanghai its reputation as the poster child for effective COVID management.
Now, we know better.
Shanghai is Chinas richest, most international, and most cosmopolitan city.
It is also the latest casualty of Covid Zero.
The fantasy that we overcame COVID has been violently squelched.
Shanghais lockdown demonstrates Chinas willingness to pursue Covid Zero no matter the cost.
And seemingly, no matter the benefit.
As a photographer, my work in 2020 was about fear.
This series is about confinement.
Previously, we were scared of the virus.
Now, we are scared of the governments response to the virus.
It is one of the few instances where the known is worse than the unknown.
For those who may not know, can you explain the context around the new lockdown?
Lockdown in China is better understood as a combination between house arrest and martial law.
You cannot leave your home outside of mandatory PCR testing.
All shops are closed, public transportation is suspended, and local volunteers transform into prison guards.
If you test positive for COVID, you will be forcibly moved to a quarantine facility.
Though the citywide lockdown has been lifted, many people remain in lockdown today.
The feeling of celebration has quickly devolved into suffocating anxiety that we can re-enter lockdown at any moment.
How was this latest lockdown different than what happened early in the pandemic?
Initially, there were no restrictions on mobility.
People took a very cautious and serious approach to self-isolation with the 2002 SARS outbreak in mind.
Compliance is no longer a request but a demand.
Previously, images of empty streets captured the feeling of COVID as people were confronted with the dangerous unknown.
The zero Covid policy is very restrictive.
How did you feel that people were dealing mentally with the lockdown?
It is impossible to overstate the devastating toll lockdown has on mental health.
You have minimal agency over your life with no end in sight.
Every day is part of the same, horrible day.
You marinate in stress.
Regular outlets to regulate moodperhaps a walk, exercising, or sitting at a cafeare now inaccessible.
Mental health resources are both understaffed and overloaded.
Our need for connection, touch, and love makes us human.
Without it, we quickly become nothing.
In your images, we can see some small gatherings of people.
Did you feel like people were more willing to bend the rules this time?
In lockdown, there is no flexibility to bend the rules.
You will be arrested if caught exiting or entering a locked residential area.
All venues were closed, so people celebrated brief reunions with makeshift curbside picnics.
What is your sense of how people are feeling about the handling of the lockdowns?
Does it make them feel safer?
Lockdown does not make people feel safer.
Policymakers are incredibly opaque, and execution varies wildly.
Lockdown has given birth to hundreds of mini tyrants that whimsically wreak havoc over residents lives.
The city continues to play whack-a-mole while the residents are forced to endure humiliation after humiliation.
People are fed up.
People want basic dignity.
