Photos: The spaces we filled, now filled with space

These are scenes playing out all over the world: empty streets, silent playgrounds and lone commuters. The sounds of rush hour, stop and go traffic have given way to the chirping of birds. From above, life on earth looks different. Where the patterns of daily routines played out the patterns now are empty parking lots, rows of vehicles sitting idle and the long shadows of solitary figures in the early spring sunshine. But life, while interrupted, carries on. Associated Press photographer David Goldman takes a step back and delivers views that drive home the suspension wrought in our lives by the coronavirus pandemic in a matter of weeks.

Updated on: Apr 05, 2020 8:49 PM IST

News

Share via

• 
• 
• 
• 

Copy link

• 

1/13

View Photos in a new improved layout

Updated on Apr 05, 2020 8:49 PM

A lone passenger boards the commuter train toward Boston at rush hour, in Attleboro, Massachusetts. Public transport in large parts of the world is currently restricted or suspended. Where it is still operational, rush hour feels more like hush hour. (David Goldman / AP)

2/13

View Photos in a new improved layout

Updated on Apr 05, 2020 8:49 PM

A driver walks to catch the train toward Boston after parking in the unusually empty lot for commuters in South Attleboro. The patterns of daily routines in self-isolation are mirrored by the patterns of empty parking lots --distanced and confined for the sake of social order. (David Goldman / AP)

3/13

View Photos in a new improved layout

Updated on Apr 05, 2020 8:49 PM

The late afternoon sun casts a long shadow of a lone pedestrian walking up the steps of City Hall Plaza, in Boston. Long shadows of solitary figures in the early spring sunshine are the few signs of human presence in spaces carved out for public use, meant for public affairs. (David Goldman / AP)

4/13

View Photos in a new improved layout

Updated on Apr 05, 2020 8:49 PM

A sole pedestrian crosses Lansdowne Street which would normally be bustling with Boston Red Sox baseball fans watching the team’s first game of the season being played in Toronto on Opening Day at bars around Fenway Park. This year's baseball season, like sporting fixtures globally, has been postponed in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus. (David Goldman / AP)

5/13

View Photos in a new improved layout

Updated on Apr 05, 2020 8:49 PM

Northeastern University students kick a football around while social distancing on a field as others run around the track, in Boston. The students usually have three times as many people meet for their regular pick-up games but many went home after the school closed over Covid-19 infection fears. (David Goldman / AP)

6/13

View Photos in a new improved layout

Updated on Apr 05, 2020 8:49 PM

Alice, an elephant at Roger Williams Park Zoo, eats hay out of a barrel as the usually busy picnic tables and walkways filled with visitors sit empty while the zoo is closed to the public in Providence. “They're used to crowds and having people around and now that that’s gone, they sense that’s something different,” said Ron Patalano, the zoo’s deputy director of operations. “You know they can sense it's not the same.” (David Goldman / AP)

7/13

View Photos in a new improved layout

Updated on Apr 05, 2020 8:49 PM

Toys lie scattered on an empty playground outside a school closed to stop the spread of coronavirus in Attleboro. Remote classrooms, cancelled in-person classes,events and athletics called off and silent playgrounds are the reality of the at least the academic semester for students in cities and countries under lockdown or self-isolating. (David Goldman / AP)

8/13

View Photos in a new improved layout

Updated on Apr 05, 2020 8:49 PM

School buses sit parked in a lot as schools remain closed due to the coronavirus in Providence, Rhode Island. (David Goldman / AP)

9/13

View Photos in a new improved layout

Updated on Apr 05, 2020 8:49 PM

Jaime Torres, 28, plays basketball on an empty court at Fargnoli Park in Providence, Rhode Island. Torres came to the park which doesn’t get too busy so his two young sons could play and social distance as opposed to having them hang out with their friends as usual on Sundays. (David Goldman / AP)

10/13

View Photos in a new improved layout

Updated on Apr 05, 2020 8:49 PM

Shoppers wait in line while practising social distancing to enter a Trader Joe’s supermarket in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Life, while interrupted, carries on. Supermarkets, deemed essential businesses, are allowed to stay open under stricter guidelines that include limiting the number of shoppers inside and maintaining distance between those in line. (David Goldman / AP)

11/13

View Photos in a new improved layout

Updated on Apr 05, 2020 8:49 PM

The Reverend Peter Gower holds his daily Mass before empty pews at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church in Johnston, Rhode Island. “I've been able to be there to support them through all these things in their life. I feel connected to the people and I do look out and I do see them,” said the Rev. Gower who continues to celebrate his daily Mass. “I have all that in my heart and my mind so there’s a unity that’s present whether they’re there or not.” (David Goldman / AP)

12/13

View Photos in a new improved layout

Updated on Apr 05, 2020 8:49 PM

A man lies on a bench in the empty pedestrian mall of Quincy Market, a popular spot for tourists and shoppers now empty due to coronavirus in Boston. Businesses deemed non-essential have been ordered shut and restaurants can only stay open for take-out and delivery. (David Goldman / AP)

13/13

View Photos in a new improved layout

Updated on Apr 05, 2020 8:49 PM

A lone bicyclist peddles though an empty Dewey Square Plaza outside South Station at rush hour, which would normally be bustling with people catching trains home in Boston. (David Goldman / AP)