Dancing, Chinese New Year 2020 – Austin, Texas

I was looking through my photo library for images I made with the Fujifilm GFX 50R and came upon a collection that I mostly forgot about. It was the Chinese New Year celebration that happened this year at the end of January in Austin.

The day was beautiful, and the celebration festive. People were happy to ring in the lunar new year with a multi-cultural celebration at a Buddhist temple. Now, these images look like an entirely different world. Where’s the social distancing and the masks? Concepts that we couldn’t have imagined back in January.

Of course, we later learned that on the other side of the world, something was growing and spreading that will have worldwide ramifications. Who knows if there’ll be a 2021 celebration, at least like this with people — strangers — packed together so tightly.

However, I’m hopeful that someday in the future, things will return to normal. Until then, we have pictures and memories. I’m starting a series on the 2020 Chinese New Year if only to remember what life was like before COVID-19.

I have a free monthly newsletter that’s perfect for busy people. Signup for the Newsletter to get the best of my posts, old and new, plus additional content not available anywhere else.