I’ve been very interested, as I’m sure many are, in documenting these strange circumstances in which we find ourselves. Our current routines, once we escape the pandemic, will soon fall away and be forgotten. I endeavor to record (somehow) these routines and oddities so that I can look upon them with curiosity in the future. I started documenting with 35mm film photographs, carrying a point and shoot camera with me everywhere I hope to catch glimpses of how odd the current days are. I have also begun to take as many physical objects as a I can, for preservation. Signs and posters from the Underground, warnings and such the like. These, I hope to display many years down the line. However, I would like to extend my practice into the aural realm, sound being my ‘thing’. My only portable recorders are tape recorders. Most of which have quality that is far too low for my needs. I’d like to purchase a field recorder to assist in my documentation, but I have ran into an issue. How does one document a lack of sound? Is there really a lack of sound? I’ve moved to a new residence, and have only experienced my new area during a pandemic – this means I have no scope of reference regarding how it sounds when everything is up and running.

How does one create honest, lovable, memorable field recordings? The everyday sounds seem so mundane at the time, and yet could provide valuable insight into life. Sound is fleeting, it is heard and then is gone forever, so maybe every moment is worth capturing? I doubt it, not every moment is interesting. But then, the question arises of ‘what are the interesting moments?’ What is worth documenting?

It brings to mind a peculiar photograph conundrum I often think about. People will sooner take photos of extraordinary things than mundane things – except it is the extraordinary that people are more likely to remember without needing the aid of photos. Perhaps the ordinary is better deserving of the film development costs, because it will remind us of times that would have otherwise gone forgotten. And is that not, after all, the most compelling reason to document in general? Recording that which would otherwise be forgotten? I find it interesting, but I am no closer to figuring out the best strategies for aural documentation in this pandemic. Perhaps, upon purchasing a recorder, a solution will naturally form.