Where The Sea Fades

“I have been on board since January 25, 2020, I saw the ship stop and then leave again. I never got off. I have seen the world change from within. I don’t know what the situation is outside, but here on board we do our best to contain the virus”.

This is the testimony of a woman, employed by the MSC Grandiosa, the first ship in Europe to leave after the lockdown. It was October 6th 2020, nothing was going to change that much before then.

On August 16, 2020 (the day after the new Italian ministerial decree that allowed cruise travel to resume) the MSC wins its battle against the virus by sending the first ship into the water in record time. This result was possible thanks to the creation of a real social bubble, but above all, through this departure, new life was given to a movement that cost tourism several million euros in turnover throughout the Mediterranean.

On land, the beginning of a new normal had already occurred, but no tourist could imagine what the new prototype of a holiday on board would be. Relentless checks punctuate the days: mandatory swabs to be carried out before boarding, hand sanitization and masks even in outdoor play activities. Everything under control, leaving nothing to chance. The maximum number of passengers that can be accommodated on board has been reduced from 5,000 to 1,500, but there has been an increase in national tourism, each blocked within its own borders to curb the spread of the virus.

“Where The Sea Fades” is a work of documentation of this new normal. Holidays have changed and with them our habits. We stand still and observe a world that remains the same, but changes in its intimacy. Time passes and life goes on, like the waves of the sea, which are hardly ever touched on a cruise.

This work is part of permanent archive on the coronavirus pandemic The Covid-19 Visual Project. A Time of Distance. conceived and produced by Cortona On The Move in partnership with Intesa Sanpaolo.