Postcards From Home: Creativity in a Time of Crisis

The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed lives, disrupted economies, and changed daily existence as we know it. It has also shown us how strong we can be, and how creative, even in isolation. For this portfolio, part of our special June/July issue, we asked designers, photographers, artists, editors, models (and a few celebrities we love) to show us what their lives have looked like these past weeks. The result? An extraordinary document of self-expression, and a reminder of the resilience of hope.

Karen Elson, Nashville

“We’re all just trying to adjust to the new normal” says the model and musician. “We have some good days; then we have other days where it’s more challenging. To keep calm, I’ve been making music—picking up my guitar and learning a song I like. That’s been really cathartic. It’s an antidote for a lot of this.”

Florence Pugh, Los Angeles

“For the first few days I felt low. Then my dad reminded me that I needed to dance and I needed to cook and I needed to do all of the things that make me happy,” says the actor. “I instantly started shimmying and boogeying in the morning and I felt so much happier and just...bubbly all day. I’ve also turned toward chopping and cooking and flavors. I have this vegetable patch that I put in in autumn of last year, so that’s where I’m getting all my cabbages, and my leeks—and my elephant garlics! I’m totally finding a sense of calm in all the greenery. Meditation doesn’t really work on me. I get very frustrated that my brain thinks about too many things. So I tend to turn to cooking and stirring. Last night I made a little kind of one-pot dish just to use all things in the fridge, and it completely calmed me down.”

David Hurn, Wales

Hurn, a British photojournalist who has long documented life in the Welsh village of Tintern, took this image from the window of his stone-walled cottage. “Each morning I indulge myself with posh coffee,” he says in quarantine, “and watch the birds pecking at my bird table.”

Francesco Risso, Milan

Marni’s creative director shared the collage above, which he describes as a kind of Marni family portrait. “We’ve collected fragments of the notes, sketches, pictures, and conversations that kept us going over the past few weeks,” Risso says. “On one hand is the pace of the industry, which did not allow us to stop completely. On the other hand is the challenge to do things differently.”

Marc Jacobs with his dogs Lady and Neville, New York

“I never thought a dress was a solution to a problem,” Jacobs says, “but I do believe that as long as people are human, they’ll want to dance and they’ll want to get dressed and they’ll want to eat good food and they’ll want to engage in things that give them pleasure. I guess we just have to find a balance, or maybe rethink what all those things mean. But we all should be thinking about how we can change—or what we learned from this experience.”

Maurizio Cattelan, Costa Rica

Maurizio Cattelan’s image, commissioned for Vogue, is a portrait of himself as a black-hooded executioner. The title is Good Night. “This is a selfie, but you don’t even see the face,” he says—a macabre comment on a macabre time.

Cindy Sherman, Long Island, New York

Cindy Sherman created a close-up, double image of her face for Vogue—long aristocratic nose pressed against the camera lens. Sherman’s subject has always been role-playing, but here she’s performing herself. “Have no idea what it means,” she says. “I suppose it’ll be ‘Untitled,’ like everything else of mine.”

Ed Ruscha, Los Angeles

Ruscha on how this drawing, pulled from his archives specifically for Vogue, reflects his current state of mind: “It’s mercury in a tube. Shouldn’t it last throughout eternity?”

Xiao Wen Ju, New York

“These photos were taken at my apartment in New York City,” says the Chinese-born model. “The images reflect my current situation: I’m trapped in one space but my mind is running through the universe. My wonderland.”

Adesuwa Aighewi, Benin City, Nigeria

“I’m at my grandfather’s house,” says the model, seated at right. “When the world gets complicated, this is where I run to. And I’m seeing things on the ground firsthand—how many people don’t have the resources to self-quarantine. I’ve been in the streets photographing from inside a car. I want to document what’s happening, so the world can see who Nigerians are and how less-fortunate people especially are affected by world events like these.”

Juergen Teller, London

“This was taken in my studio garden while looking at the beautiful spring blossoms,” says the photographer. “Observing nature feels important to me in these slow times: studying the birds, feeling the air get crisper and cleaner. I wanted to take this self-portrait from farther away to reflect social distancing and not as a close-up or more conventional and straightforward portrait.”

Peter Van Agtmael, New York

“I photographed this man in Times Square as corona was starting to take hold,” the New York–based photojournalist says. “I was wandering around when I saw a flash of color in my peripheral vision. Even amid the chaos, it was nice to see New Yorkers being weird and cheerful.”

Kim Kardashian West, Los Angeles

“We’re in the theater room. That’s the place that has gotten the most use lately,” says Kardashian West. “The whole family has spent the last few nights in there after the kids made it into a fort, with, like, different beds all over the floor. My daughter is the fort police. If you move out of your bed that she designated for you, it’s a problem.”

Virgil Abloh, Chicago

“The ax—it’s not a real ax; it’s an art piece from Sterling Ruby,” says the Off-White founder and Louis Vuitton men’s artistic director. “I’m hanging up art and building a new work space, a recording studio. Under Construction is kind of the title of the image. I’m inspired by the fact that fashion can mean something different out of the end of this. It doesn’t feel like it did a year ago. Today it seems useless, in a way: a new handbag, a pair of shoes. Getting groceries seems more important than buying a new garment that I already have 30 of in a closet. I don’t think of that as a bad thing. I’m also trying to find some solitude. You hear about these things: wellness, well-being. Meditating—that’s something I need to learn. I’m relishing the idea of not having to do something all the time, but that’s a trait I have to learn. I’m not wired that way.”

Erwin Wurm, Limberg, Austria

The artist, best known for his playfully performative series, One Minute Sculptures, is pictured here with his daughter, Estée, and dog, Tini. The images, taken on March 22, sees Wurm and his family “at home safe, hiding, protecting each other and playing around.”

Alessandro Michele, Rome

“I’ve rediscovered knitting and the sacredness of manual work: Knitting is my way of praying,” says the Gucci creative director. “I’m also learning how to play my classical guitar, feeling the connection with my dad’s love for music. I’m aware of the privilege I have—I can slow down, while lots of other people are working tirelessly to help each and every one of us make it through these agonizing times. We would not be here, thinking about what this pandemic is teaching us, without their priceless effort. From my windows, I can hear the birds singing as I’ve never heard before; seawater in Venice is clear once again. These are the little signs we need to look at once we go back to inhabiting this fragile world.”

Sienna Miller with her daughter, Marlowe, Westchester County, New York

“Having to homeschool is a challenge, and it makes you greatly appreciate the people who teach for a living. They are making this system work in such an unpredictable and scary time,” says Miller. “This experience is overwhelming, but I’m trying to bring in as much optimism as possible, and make the most of the time I get to spend with my daughter. There’s been lots of baking, lots of makeup, lots of swings.”

Anton Corbijn, Amsterdam

The Dutch photographer and filmmaker is pictured here with his girlfriend, Nimi; he used a self-timer to take their double-portrait. “Since I have a lung condition, I need to be careful in this pretty interesting but also challenging time,” Corbijn says, “so we have been self-isolating at home in Amsterdam for a good three weeks. This is us coming out of bed, in pajamas, into the kitchen to have a cuppa.”

Tierney Gearon, Los Angeles

“All of my personal work is like a diary of my soul and my life,” says the American photographer (left). Drawn from an ongoing project, this video, taken in early April with goddaughter Mia (in the red skirt), plays with childhood notions of structure and freedom. “The box, to me, represents boundaries,” Gearon explains, “something I was not raised with.”

Lin-Manuel Miranda, New York

“For me, the George Washington Bridge represents a constant in the face of a lot of uncertainty,” Miranda says. “When I was a kid, I took piano lessons across the street from the building I live in now, and, stepping out of the 181st Street train station, I remember the thing that blasted you was this incredible bridge that almost loomed over the street. And so it’s been in my life for as long as I can remember. I’m looking at it now, and I think the only thing that’s changed in the past month is the amount of traffic, which used to be legendary and has now slowed to a trickle.”

Harley Weir, London

“Our favorite place,” says the British-born photographer (left), pictured at home with painter George Rouy.

Daniel Arnold, New York

“I feel like I’ve been on an airplane for six weeks,” says the normally nomadic New York City photographer. “I cry without being sad or moved, all of my emotions are mutedly haywire; I snack psychotically and I stare out a window, unable to digest how high up I am, or how dangerous it would be to go outside. I have no good ideas of how to express that visually, and I haven’t even tried. But after a few weeks of immersing [myself] in the feeling, eating oddly and tinkering with new ways of making work, I was amazed to find this photo of myself looking blankly out an oval airplane window at the paused world, cozy in a seatbelt that offers no real protection from totally vague, abstract danger and waving at nobody, just in case.”

Camilla Nickerson, Upstate New York

“Time has taken on a whole new meaning, shape, and form as hours, days, and weeks seem to roll like the hills here,” says Vogue’s style director from her home in upstate New York. “I find that remembering to take things one day at a time is calming and centering. I wake up before dawn each day as seeing the sunrise brings me hope and strength. That’s when I took this video.”

Annie Leibovitz, Upstate New York

“All I’m doing is laundry and cleaning and trying to figure out meals,” the photographer (and mother to three teenage girls) says. “I’m living in these old pajamas.”

Steven Klein, Long Island, New York

The photographer captured his four-year-old son, Ace, surrounded by a plush menagerie. “The future of the planet is the children,” Klein says. “What a mess we made of it.”

Nicolas Ghesquiere with Leon, Yvelines, France,

“I am quarantined outside Paris, in my home in the countryside,” says the Louis Vuitton creative director. “The framed image in the background is very special to me—it is a photo of Cate Blanchett as Queen Elizabeth I of England, shot by Irving Penn and wearing a look I designed for an editorial project with Vogue. What gives me hope? The perspective of a brighter future, with even more consciousness infused into the fashion industry. This time of crisis has awakened each of us to different ways of working together more responsibly.”

Adut Akech, Adelaide, Australia

“I was supposed to come see my family in Adelaide for a week, and now I’ve been home for a month—but I’m grateful to be stuck here,” the model says. “I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. I’ve been staying positive by exercising and meditating as much as possible, and I’ve been making my siblings [pictured] join me, just to make sure their immunities are strong and healthy. I’ve also done a lot of reading, which has been good for my mental health.”

Chien-Chi Chang, Graz, Austria

In an image taken on March 13, the Taiwanese-born photojournalist documents his first day isolating at home with his family. “This is my six-year-old son, Yilin (left), and my eight-year-old daughter, Yuming (right). We have been drawing together for weeks,” he says. “I used to think: Without photography, I am nothing. But then I had kids and realized that without love, I am less than nothing.”

Lucinda Chambers, London

“I’ve literally never done a selfie in my life, and I didn’t think I wanted to start practicing on American Vogue,” says the editor and stylist. “So I took an old sketch Clym Evernden did [of me] at a party, and I asked artist Anna Bu Kliewer if she could cut out some things to make it look three-dimensional and bring it to life in a collage. And then I just wrote all my bits and bobs on it­—a shopping list to myself of what this time means.”

Hassan Hajjaj, London

“Home safe” in the U.K. with his family, the Moroccan-born photographer rendered life under lockdown in poetic terms: “What was important yesterday seems like a dream today. What is important today seemed like a dream yesterday. What is important tomorrow seems like a dream today. What is important today is a dream for tomorrow.”

Jackie Nickerson, County Louth, Ireland

“This is kind of how my world feels right now,” the Boston-born photographer reflected from her studio in rural Ireland. “I’m wearing things that I made, things that perhaps reflect how insular our lives have become. The image with the yellow circle is an homage to the late, great conceptual artist John Baldessari. He used appropriated imagery and applied colorful dots to photos. The yellow dot in this photograph is real, not added later. Both images use material that is meshed, that has a netting effect. The pink is a mixed jersey nylon material, and the other is brown Geami packaging paper.”

Kendall Jenner, Los Angeles

“This is my happy place, reading in my home in front of my new James Turrell piece that I’m very proud of,” Jenner says. “Turrell is an artist I’ve wanted in my home for a long time, not only for the beauty of his work but for the purpose. His pieces are meant to be meditative. They make me feel calm and help put my mind at ease—I’m usually listening to one of the many ambient playlists I have. I believe, especially in the current climate, that keeping a good mental state is important. Identify all the little things that mean the most to you, and embrace them.”

Hunter Schafer, Los Angeles

“I’m taking lots of little dance breaks,” says the actor. “Finding new music to dance to. Printing out pictures to put on my wall. Writing a lot. Drawing a lot. I’ve been staying off my phone for as long as I can, then going on video-chat apps to see friends when I get lonely. I’m also figuring out how many variations of ‘X on top of bread’ I can do with my food, and thinking about everything I’m gonna do when we’re allowed to go out for fun again.”

Collier Schorr, New York

“My favorite camera, the Leica M10, is in the picture, but this is shot with the iPhone 11 Pro. That way I could see my own face,” explains the photographer of her selfie taken in the bedroom of her Williamsburg apartment. “I was trying to make a photo with Olivia Galov, who I am quarantining with, to have a self-portrait that engages the idea of photographing someone else.”

Enri Canaj, Athens

“A few days after the lockdown, I spotted a man selling fresh fruits on an empty street,” says the Albanian-born photographer. “‘I’ve got to earn my living, son,’ he said when I approached him. ‘There’s nothing else I can do . . . at least I’ve the mask to protect me.’ I felt like I captured the visible part of a situation that was suddenly becoming invisible.”

Jonas Bendiksen, Nesoddtangen, Norway

While quarantining, the Norwegian photojournalist captured his daughters Boe, four (left), and Billie, two (right), building a fort from sofa pillows. Bendiksen’s wife, Anna, a doctor, has been working through the crisis.

Lizzo, Los Angeles

“I have my crystals that I charge, and I have my single-note bell, and I have this flute; it’s called a toot. I light sage, or I light Palo Santo or a candle or anything that can bring some sort of texture into the air,” Lizzo says. “Then I just like to sit and connect with people. I know a lot of people use meditation as a form of calming down and centering themselves, but recently I’ve been using meditation as a form of connectivity, to where it’s like I can mindfully and metaphysically connect with all of the people in the world. You know what I mean? I’ve been using meditation as a form of bringing myself closer to everybody and to the heart of the world, and it’s really worked. It’s really worked for me.”

Gisele Bündchen with her daughter, Vivian, Costa Rica

“I feel this is a very important time to go inward and reflect on what is most important,” the model says. “I have been reflecting a lot on my life; on how I can be the best version of myself and share, with others, things that have helped me … taking time to meditate, working out, doing breathwork when I feel more anxious, and spending quality time with my kids. My daughter, Vivi, is in this photo with me!”

Martin Parr, Bristol, England

“The newly invented currency which is now part of the ongoing pandemic is toilet paper,” says the British photographer. “The shelves had been stripped bare of it, but I hit lucky and got a multi-pack early on when out at the local supermarket. So this image is really a naughty boast, the poor man's version of having an expensive artwork on the wall.”

Ethan James Green, New York

“I started living alone for the first time in a new apartment a week before the quarantine and social distancing started,” the photographer says. “The space is unfurnished, so I’ve turned it into a testing ground for photography, shooting natural-light still lifes and self-portraits. It’s bare-bones, and it has been nice to revisit my beginnings as a photographer.”

Maria Grazia Chiuri, Rome

“I am working from home, and I like to alternate between working on new collections and working on personal things, like making family albums—and I often end up on the floor of my living room,” says the Dior creative director. “I like looking at old pictures—the ones which turned out well and the ones that did not—letters, notes, postcards, drawings I made and the ones my children made for me. It’s something that brings me a lot of joy and serenity; it’s like revisiting the tracks of one’s life and the lives of those I love.”

Nicolas Party, Upstate New York

The Swiss-born artist has been thinking of Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away. “When Chihiro enters a new world, she starts to become transparent,” he says. “What an interesting vision she is having, seeing through her arm and witnessing her body becoming immaterial.” In his new work, a self-portrait titled Portrait and Cave and commissioned for Vogue, the androgynous figure is translucent as well, conveying a sense of underlying anxiety.

Ashley Graham, Nebraska

“My husband, Justin, my son, and I have been out here on my aunt’s farm,” says the model, who gave birth to Isaac (pictured) in January. “Being here means so much to me. This is where I would come every summer to see my family and be with my cousins. The most important thing has been remembering to ‘fear not.’ Turn your TV off, get off social media, and remember not just to think positively, but to speak it, too.”

Guido Palau, Long Island, New York

“My boyfriend, Bill Tansey, is an artist out here, so I’m surrounded by his artwork,” says the British hairstylist. “This picture is of one of his paintings, and he just happened to be standing in the light—there’s a silhouette of him on the painting. When everything’s taken away from you, like it has been for all of us across the world, in a way, it’s amazing how little you need. With warmth and food and health and love, you can get through.”

Ryan McGinley, New York

“My dog, Dickie, and I were trying to highlight the importance of wearing masks,” says the photographer. “I put a bandanna across his face to give the photo a sense of humor, which is needed during these challenging times.”

Bella Newman, Pennsylvania

The photographer is quarantined in her family’s home in rural Pennsylvania. She is pictured here wearing her mother’s velvet and satin wedding cloak from 1997. “I’m staying calm and collected by forcing myself to make something every day,” she says.

Donatella Versace, Milan

“People have rediscovered the importance of human contact because we have been forcibly deprived of it—maybe we will put a higher value on a hug or a smile or on the freedom that was so easily taken away from us,” says Versace. “How does this translate to my work? I do not have all the answers yet, but I know they will come because I always look at the glass half full—and I never give up.”

Paloma Elsesser, New York

“Well, what have I been doing?” the model muses. “I’ve been reading, but have I been doing that consistently, every day? No. Have I been exercising every single day? No. The thing that’s kept me grounded is actually randomly doing these Zoom calls, and connecting on FaceTime with my friends and my family. That, and trying to have fun and get dressed every few days—you know, put some makeup on, put an earring on, or just, like, dance around a little bit.”

Mayan Toledano, New York

“I have only left my house two times in four weeks, and this bike ride was one of them,” says the Israeli-Moroccan photographer. “So much time has passed in my mind, and in the world, but to be out in empty Times Square felt like maybe the lockdown just started. I went with my friend Mika, who was skating right behind me.”

Originally Appeared on Vogue