Karantina - Lockdown

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19), which originated in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, quickly spread, claiming lives around the globe. The World Health Organization officially declared it a pandemic on March 11, 2020.

Even advanced nations were overwhelmed by the pandemic, and it laid bare the consequences of differing political and societal approaches to public health and crisis management.

From Wuhan to New York, from Moscow to Cape Town, people across the globe retreated indoors in compliance with government directives. Once-bustling public spaces—streets, avenues, squares, subways, coastlines, and museums—were engulfed in silence. A haunting stillness took hold of cities worldwide.

Through the lens of Anadolu Ajansı’s experienced photojournalists, Karantina / Lockdown captures these pandemic-silenced spaces. The book, composed of photographs with lasting historical value, speaks to the mutual longing between people and the cities they once animated.