'A year through a window' is a series that came to life through photography as a contemplative practice to find inner peace.
As Scotland (where I was based at the time) and Colombia (my home country) entered their first lockdown in March 2020, one way I found to fight the anxiety of such a strange moment in history was to grab my camera and photograph my surroundings. I was a master's student in Edinburgh at the time, and this was the view from my window.
This series was only an exercise of contemplation while spending more time at home. The first time I grabbed my camera was on March 26th, 2020, but only months later, I noticed I had been taking very similar photos of the view from my flat.
One of the changes from pre-lockdown times was the silence in the flat: the building to the right of the photo is a primary school, which, of course, was empty for most of the year and had once been filled with the noise of children playing during their breaks.
Looking back, I find comfort in seeing the changes across the day, the weather, and the seasons, and in having been able to capture moments when I found myself just contemplating the landscape before me.
The series finished on March 23rd, 2021, almost exactly a year after the first photo. In the end, for me, this series is a reflection of time's circularity.
There is also a happy noise, as children in the school’s playground are back. There is hope.
