{"id":905470,"date":"2020-12-29T21:37:40","date_gmt":"2020-12-29T18:37:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=905470"},"modified":"2020-12-29T21:37:40","modified_gmt":"2020-12-29T18:37:40","slug":"zoom-for-the-holidays-how-the-world-celebrated-online-in-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=905470","title":{"rendered":"Zoom for the Holidays: How the World Celebrated Online in 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Arts<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Zoom for the Holidays: How the World Celebrated Online in 2020<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n
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By <\/span>Liam Hess<\/span><\/span><\/span>Photographer <\/span>Thomas Dworzak<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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Tracking Santa\u2019s journey over Bratislava, via a Zoom meeting hosted in the Yukon.<\/span>Photo: Thomas Dworzak \/ Magnum Photos<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n
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In Germany, a group of carollers convenes for a singalong, surrounded by festive string lights. In Dubai, a jolly Santa Claus entertains children against the backdrop of his Lapland workshop. In the Southeast U.S., an extended family gathers together for a story to celebrate Kwanzaa; across the country, children light the menorah and play with dreidels during Hanukkah. It might sound like your typical global patchwork of holiday celebrations and get-togethers, but this year it happened entirely on Zoom.<\/p>\n

The German photographer Thomas Dworzak has made it his goal to document this new normal for holiday festivities. From the early days of lockdown at the beginning of the year, Dworzak has been joining Zoom groups and observing how our most hallowed rituals\u2014everything from election night parties to funerals\u2014have translated to the digital sphere. \u201cI could have photographed this year in a more traditional way, but somehow I figured I should do it differently,\u201d says Dworzak. \u201cI didn’t really want to go out and take photos of this empty world, and meanwhile, there was this whole other world appearing on Zoom.\u201d As the holiday season approached, Dworzak began reaching out to communities and asking if he could join their Zoom calls; over the past few days, he\u2019s been moving from one to the other almost non-stop. \u201cI\u2019m glad to be finally off my computer,\u201d he laughs.<\/p>\n

Dworzak\u2019s background as a photographer lies largely in photojournalism, spending the past three decades covering conflicts in regions as far-flung as the Caucasus, Northern Ireland, and Palestine. (One of his best-known bodies of work came after he traveled to Afghanistan in the wake of 9\/11 on assignment for The New Yorker<\/em>, with his hand-colored portraits of Taliban soldiers becoming an eerie document of a pivotal moment in Middle Eastern history.) A member of Magnum Photos since 2004, he was elected President of Magnum in 2017.<\/p>\n

And while the subject matter of his Zoom series may be more quotidian, his experience as a reporter came in handy all the same\u2014not least in gaining entry to some of the more intimate online gatherings, which required just as much initiative to penetrate as a political summit or army camp. \u201cI sort of tried to do what I would do anyway as a photojournalist,\u201d he adds. \u201cI wanted to document what people were doing, and get into these new worlds.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Dworzak, one of the most striking elements of these Zoom celebrations was the heightened sense of intimacy. While it might seem paradoxical given the physical distance between participants, it makes more sense when viewed in light of the fact that events that would usually take place in churches or synagogues are now taking place from the privacy of people\u2019s homes. The end product is something that feels deeply poignant: a document of how communities, whether religious or cultural, have found ways to connect throughout a devastating year, and in particular the way in which they\u2019ve been able to find moments of joy and levity from afar.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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It\u2019s also here that the challenge lay for Dworzak as a photographer: to find those split-second moments that transcended the visual monotony of online video calls, even as they felt more elusive than ever. \u201cIt’s funny how they often end up looking the same, the board meeting, the church service, the funeral, the party, it’s the same grid of six people in the first line, four down,\u201d he says. \u201cIt has its limitations in visual joy, to put it more diplomatically. There’s nothing I can do, I can’t move to the left, I can’t move to the right, I’m stuck to this grid. Sometimes it’s frustrating, but at the same time, I enjoy the fact I have no control.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ironically, it\u2019s this lack of control that feels most timely of all. \u201cSome of them work out, and they turn out to be really interesting, and then other times, nothing really happens\u2014it’s just five or six people on a Zoom call,\u201d Dworzak says. \u201cThere are none of the usual measurements which allow you to get a feel ahead of time. It’s a little bit like street photography really, when you aimlessly walk around a place you haven’t been to before, but you’re trying to take pictures. And you wander around and try different things and sometimes it leads nowhere. It’s not dissimilar\u2014just virtual.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Santa in Dubai.<\/span>Photo: Thomas Dworzak \/ Magnum Photos<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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A family meeting, U.S.<\/span>Photo: Thomas Dworzak \/ Magnum Photos<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Saint Nicolaus \u201cvisiting\u201d a family, Germany.<\/span>Photo: Thomas Dworzak \/ Magnum Photos<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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Nativity play, Germany.<\/span>Photo: Thomas Dworzak \/ Magnum Photos<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Christmas party and fundraiser, U.S.<\/span>Photo: Thomas Dworzak \/ Magnum Photos<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Santa in Dubai.<\/span>Photo: Thomas Dworzak \/ Magnum Photos<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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Ugly sweater competition, U.S. and Mexico.<\/span>Photo: Thomas Dworzak \/ Magnum Photos<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Christmas reception at the Russian Foreign Ministry, Moscow.<\/span>Photo: Thomas Dworzak \/ Magnum Photos<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Christmas reception at the Russian Foreign Ministry, Moscow.<\/span>Photo: Thomas Dworzak \/ Magnum Photos<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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Church service, UK.<\/span>Photo: Thomas Dworzak \/ Magnum Photos<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Advent singing, Germany.<\/span>Photo: Thomas Dworzak \/ Magnum Photos<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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Christmas party and fundraiser, U.S.<\/span>Photo: Thomas Dworzak \/ Magnum Photos<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Shab-e-Yalda, the Persian celebration of the longest night.<\/span>Photo: Thomas Dworzak \/ Magnum Photos<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Gospel church service, U.S.<\/span>Photo: Thomas Dworzak \/ Magnum Photos<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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Kwanzaa celebration, U.S.<\/span>Photo: Thomas Dworzak \/ Magnum Photos<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Kwanzaa celebration, U.S.<\/span>Photo: Thomas Dworzak \/ Magnum Photos<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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Kwanzaa celebration, U.S.<\/span>Photo: Thomas Dworzak \/ Magnum Photos<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"Image<\/span><\/div>\n
Kwanzaa celebration, U.S.<\/span>Photo: Thomas Dworzak \/ Magnum Photos<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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The Odessa Klezmer Band celebrate Hannukah, U.S.<\/span>Photo: Thomas Dworzak \/ Magnum Photos<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Children\u2019s plays for Hannukah, U.S.<\/span>Photo: Thomas Dworzak \/ Magnum Photos<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
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Children\u2019s plays for Hannukah, U.S.<\/span>Photo: Thomas Dworzak \/ Magnum Photos<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Lighting the Hanukkah lights, U.S.<\/span>Photo: Thomas Dworzak \/ Magnum Photos<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Lighting the Hanukkah lights, U.S.<\/span>Photo: Thomas Dworzak \/ Magnum Photos<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

Source URL: https:\/\/www.vogue.com\/article\/thomas-dworzak-zoom-holiday-photo-essay<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Arts Zoom for the Holidays: How the World Celebrated Online in 2020 By Liam HessPhotographer Thomas Dworzak December 29, 2020 Tracking Santa\u2019s journey over Bratislava, via a Zoom meeting hosted in the Yukon.Photo: Thomas Dworzak \/ Magnum Photos In Germany, a group of carollers convenes for a singalong, surrounded by festive string lights. In Dubai, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":905473,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[50],"class_list":["post-905470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-vogue-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=905470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905470\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/905473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=905470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=905470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=905470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}