Daniel Waxman-Lenz, 24, sits covered in a hammock reading near the Charles River on March 28, 2020. Waxman-Lenz, an avid hiker and skier has been struggling with not being able to enjoy his usual hobbies. “I do feel confined lately because I have to limit what things I can do, and there’s a definite hard limit of where I am able to go and what I can and can’t do because of where things are located.”
Software engineer Tom Kowalski, 23, does maintenance work on his bike in his apartment in Cambridge, MA on April 5, 2020.
Kowalski defines confinement as a “lack of freedom” and uses his hobby of biking to help combat this feeling. “If it’s nice out I’ll try and go on a ride and you know clear my head for an hour or two, or working on making sure my bikes are all up to speed - whatever I need to do to stay sane and not go crazy.”
Northeastern University student, Kaitlyn Mac Guthrie, 21, stands in the doorway of her Mission Hill home on April 6, 2020. Guthrie describes the pandemic as “weird and surreal” and says the recent confinement has left her “feeling trapped, stuck, claustrophobic and helpless.”
Northeastern student Gioia Infelise, 21, has been using baking as a method to cope with confinement and is grateful that people are still allowed to go on walks outside, as of April 7, 2020.
“I mean I think it’s helped make it easier that we can still go outside, but I could imagine that if we couldn’t at all then I would definitely feel very confined and would definitely get more stir crazy.”
Waxman-Lenz sits at his desk in his room on April 5, 2020. He is an electrical engineer at Starry, an internet service provider, and has been working from home since March 16, 2020. “The whole staying at home thing really messes with the whole work/home dynamic. You just don’t have that separation right now, which is usually pretty nice. You go one place to work and you get to leave that place to not work and now you don’t have that and it has definitely been hard to adjust.”
Natalie Reeder, 21, poses in the shadow of the blinds in her Mission Hill home on April 7, 2020. Reeder, who does not generally like posing for photos, shares a candid laugh with the camera at the end of the shoot.
On confinement, she says, “I think that choosing confinement, especially as a healthy person, is very frustrating. I am an active person who loves being able to do what she wants. It’s very frustrating to have to make choices based on the pandemic and making sure I am being a responsible citizen instead of making choices based on what I want to do.”
Waxman-Lenz sits mummified in his sleeping bag on his porch in Cambridge, MA on April 4, 2020 - a space that he generally enjoys being confined in.
“It is mostly just frustrating that I can’t go out into the woods or do more active things outside that I am normally used to doing on weekends. It’s hard because you have to keep reminding yourself why you can’t do things that you want to do, and it often doesn’t seem like it has an impact. I know that it does in the long-run, but it isn’t as immediately noticeable I guess.”
This photo essay was featured online by DigBoston in May 2020.