Just before the storm - by Hanna Shapiro
Just before the storm
The last feeling of serenity that is about to be lost
California, January 2020
Photographs by Hanna Shapiro
Exhibited in Bock's Corner Brewery Restaurant 24.5.-10.8.
Open during restaurant opening hours.
"Living by the ocean taught me a simple rule:
The calmest day is the only one before the worst storm."
At the beginning of January 2020, Hanna did a short trip to Los Angeles, California. She spent most of her free time on the Pacific Coast with only one goal: observing people’s behaviour in a lazy manner. It seemed to her like all people came there for the kindness of winter sun and to listen to the sounds of the surf and seagulls chatting, doing nothing and enjoying the present.
Hanna recalls - there was something else that we all didn’t realise at that point: it was literally the last days when we weren’t stuck in our homes with phones in our hands reading horrible, frightening news about life and death and new restrictions.
That early January, all we had was sun, sand, wind and birds. That simplicity made you appreciate that particular moment even more.
Hanna is an independent street photographer. Her natural curiosity and mixed roots pushed her early to move between countries and continents to find new inspiration and knowledge, documenting her observations of people's behaviour in different parts of the world through the lens of the camera.
Born and raised in Odesa, Ukraine, she moved to Hong Kong, where she started her photography career. Today she is based in Tokyo, where she continues to explore people and how they function in giant megalopolises and still find peace with themselves and others in this challenging time.