Cities of Silence (Extraordinary Views of a Shutdown World)

The London Eye at a standstill, against a brilliant blue sky. Venetian gondolas, resting beneath their tarps. The Trevi Fountain in Rome, Schloss Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam, the Brooklyn Bridge in New York…all deserted, in the middle of the day. The global Covid-19 lockdown of Spring and Summer 2020 that had millions of people confined to their homes made for remarkable photographs around the world. Cities of Silence shows striking images of more than 60 major cities in lockdown—eerie, yet beautiful snapshots of otherwise densely crowded spaces. Free of people and traffic, the pure aesthetics of each site shine in their original glory: the symmetry of a square or boulevard, the harmony of a façade, the unfettered beauty of an empty stretch of beach. A document of an extraordinary and challenging period, and a reminder of a slower-paced world, Cities of Silence also offers us the visual space, and perhaps, clarity, to imagine a better future.