Charlie Bennet & Helena Gustavsson: ON PAUSE – Three Months that Changed New York
Covid-19 hit New York with incredible force and closed the city down. In March 2020, Governor Andrew Cuomo declared that “New York City is on pause.” Soon the city’s deserted avenues, bridges, and train stations became a global symbol of the ravages of the pandemic and our attempts to escape it.
In the new stunning coffee table book, ON PAUSE, New York-based photographer Charlie Bennet chronicles a unique time in the city that never sleeps. The pictures show beautiful, serene, quiet spaces. A pause, an emptiness, that we don’t want to relive, but perhaps not forget either.
ON PAUSE collects experiences from New Yorkers who were in the city during the three months when everything changed, looks back at how the city was impacted by Covid-19, and reflects on scientific challenges, pandemic art, and burning social issues.
ON PAUSE is based on Charlie Bennet’s photographs and created in collaboration with writer Helena Gustavsson and art director Jon Palmqvist; Published by Winifred Publishing.
Through epic photos, thematic essays, and in-depth interviews with
New Yorkers who stayed during the months when everything changed, ON PAUSE chronicles a unique time in the city that never sleeps.
ON PAUSE also looks back at all the things that changed during 2020. Well-known products became sought-after valuables, and a new garment made a grand entrance. And in spite of the pandemic, life also continued in New York City. People took the train, biked to work, socialized, went on job interviews, played with their kids, and fell in love. Interactions between people moved online or outdoors, whether it was a cocktails with friends, workout sessions, or protests against social injustices. New York and its people suffered but also adapted.
About the Authors
Charlie Bennet was born in Sweden but has lived in Manhattan for the last 10 years. He is a still life and lifestyle photographer working with editorial and advertising clients such as The New York Times, Nike, and Wallpaper. Charlie has published five books prior to ON PAUSE with publishers such as Rizzoli and teNeues and has exhibited his work both in the United States and Europe. Charlie loves to take walks with his dog “Winnie”. Charlie is the founder of Winifred Publishing. charliebennet.com
Helena Gustavsson is a Swedish journalist based in New York. She reports mainly for Swedish media on politics, social issues, and arts & culture. Helena has covered two presidential elections and profiled a number of U.S.-based authors, including Salman Rushdie, Siri Hustvedt and Colson Whitehead, to name a few. She has written several pieces on how the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted America and has also interviewed “Sweden’s Dr. Fauci,” Anders Tegnell. Outside of work, she is an American National Champion in team handball. helenagustavsson.se
Jon Palmqvist is a Senior Art Director and Graphic Designer at the Jung von Matt advertising agency in Stockholm, Sweden.
