This dreamy self-isolation diary will transport you to a soothing creative world
27 April 2020
Text:
Paula Erizanu
Isolated from others, amateur photographer Ina-Alice is embracing her Insta photo diary as a canvas for new thoughts during lockdown, allowing her to break her own inner barriers.
Ina-Alice posts a carefully-composed, otherworldly photograph each day, featuring either herself, her boyfriend, or objects from her house. She pairs the pictures with everyday observations (“Sunday evenings are still boring”), hopeful messages (“Cleansing is still possible, inside and out”), and more pragmatic ideas of how to spend quality time (“Gazillions of recipes are still waiting to be discovered”).
Ironically, Ina-Alice says her lockdown diary is one of her freest creative projects. “Generally, I’m more of an observer. This is the first time when I’ve given my brain free reign to create something, no matter how,” she told The Calvert Journal.
After eight years of experience in the advertising industry, Ina-Alice quit her job as an account manager just before Covid-19 reached her native Romania a month ago. She wanted to pursue adventure, but having a major shift in lifestyle coincide with lockdown instead saw her stress levels peak. After a few nights of insomnia, she decided to embark on her new photo series to take her mind off her anxieties.
“At first, I wanted the series to be funny,” Ina-Alice says, “but no one laughed at the first picture. So I said to myself that it would be best to do something that is foreign to me, but easier to simulate: optimism and serenity.”
But the account slowly uplifted Ina-Alice’s peace of mind, too. After using her garden as a set for most of her photo shoots, Ina-Alice says that she started seeing it as “a safe space”. It also helped cleanse her of her inner critic. “This is what I enjoy most [about this project]. It makes me happy with something — something that isn’t perfect, but is still more than nothing. It inspires me and makes me realise that we can all do more than our fears allow us to believe.”
You can follow Ina-Alice here.
