Items

• 
  2020-03-17

  Empty Pasta Shelves

  When Australia first got hit with news of how devastating Covid-19, many people went onto a panic-buying frenzy, stockpiling non-perishable essential items. This is a photo taken at my local Woolworths with the pasta shelves completely gutted. Toilet paper, rice, hand sanitizer, yeast and hand soap were equally cleared out. Some stores went as far as to post signs out the front of their stores stating "NO TOILET PAPER AVAILABLE". As a young person who lives away from home, my regular diet consists of a lot of pasta (also because pasta is delicious). During this time I ended up eating a lot more vegetable soups, because ironically fresh fruit and vegetables supplies weren't particularly affected by the virus or panic buying as they wouldn't last in an impending apocalypse. It took about a month for grocery stores to re-configure their supplies, and the for the panic to die down slightly. When this first happened, the essential items were piled high front and centre at the entrance of the store: I walked in to this same Woolworths one day with a tower of 24-pack toilet pack stacked as tall as I was. This object shows how crowds can react in unexpected and instinctually self-defensive ways when threatened with a large and sweeping danger. HIST30060.
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  2020-04-07

  Treatment of Essential Workers: “Insulting Rewards”

  This project aims to document the treatment and reactions to the treatment of the essential workers during this pandemic. This image captures the headline of an article describing workers outrage at the “rewards” they are being given, such as free lunches. My friend works at a grocery store and has experienced this firsthand. No promise of bonuses, or sick leave, or extra protections for working during a pandemic, many are insulted that companies believe a free lunch may make up for the health risks these workers take everyday.