Just before the storm - photographs by Hanna Shapiro

Just before the storm
The last feeling of serenity that is about to be lost

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.”