Between Us: Adad Hannah's Social Distancing Portraits

By Adad Hannah PhD, India Rael Young PhD, Adad Hannah, et al.

A moving remembrance of the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic using photographs, first-hand accounts and augmented-reality-accessible video portraits that are at once universal and deeply personal.

Courage wears many faces. On March 14, 2020, at the outset of a global pandemic, artist Adad Hannah took to the streets of Vancouver to record this pivotal moment in time. Over the span of a year he created 237 tableaux-vivants of everyday people that capture our heart, our solidarity, and our resilience. Between Us presents our shared experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic through a series of photographs, first-hand accounts, and augmented-reality-accessible video portraits.

Hannah's series captures the trajectories of our experiences, from the first weeks of uncertainty in our homes, to the societal ruptures brought to the fore by the Black Lives Matter movement, to our hesitant and choreographed returns to and retreats from work and school, to vaccine rollouts.

Day after day, Hannah travelled the streets of Vancouver inviting sitters to record their experiences in the moment. Each sitter participated in a three-part artwork that included a video portrait or a tableau vivant, a still photograph and a short interview about their experience of COVID-19. For the primary expression of the series, the tableaux vivants, Hannah asked sitters to remain still for thirty seconds while he created a video. In the studio, he worked with composers Brigitte Dajczer and Daniel Ingram to create individual soundscapes for each video.

With unique sound compositions that can be uplifting, unsettling or serene, alongside personal narratives from his sitters, Hannah's series personifies our varied emotional journeys. Readers can access the video portraits and soundscapes through their mobile devices using groundbreaking augmented-reality technology embedded invisibly in each photograph.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0772680906
• ISBN13: 9780772680907
• Release Date: May 2023
• Publisher: Royal British Columbia Museum
• Length: 240 Pages