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  • Writer's pictureJEMPJ Team

Love goes beyond borders





Hello everybody, 

During this time of craziness, I am desperately looking for good and uplifting news, or simply something that lightens my mood. One article I read in “Der Spiegel,” reported about a German- Danish couple that is making the best out of the circumstances of the closed borders. 

 As an advocate for love, I have chosen this picture for this week's picture analysis. I want to focus this week's analysis on the message of the picture and the article, and the hopeful feelings we can get from it. Before we can look more closely at the message, we will start with the classics and for readers of our blog well-known steps of the picture analysis.


First of all we have the pre-iconographic phase or how I like to call it, the raw and emotional description of the picture. In this particular case we have two people sitting on chairs on what looks like the street divided by a barrier between them. The older woman sits on the left side, while an older man, in his bright orange dungarees, is sitting on the right side of the barrier. The barrier is covered with lunchboxes and a thermos flask. It looks like they are sitting in the middle of a street and behind them is nature. Another detail that is hidden in the background, are the two bikes on each side of the barrier.

The next step is called the iconographic phase, making a judgement of what we see. So the two elderly people are seeming to enjoy a picnic that they have set up. The bikes in the background can be an indication of how they have gotten to this rather special place. The outfit of the man points towards him being a construction worker or something along these lines. However what we cannot really tell by now is why they have this weird barrier between them, and why they have chosen to have a picnic in the middle of a street. 

For the final step of the analysis, the iconological phase, we need a little bit more context. Luckily this picture came with an article which describes the situation of this meet-up. The two people are actually a Danish-German couple who try to make the best out of the closed borders. The 89 year old German man and the 85 year old Danish woman have known each other for two years, and are not able to spend day and night together like they used to. The Danish-German border was closed on March 14, 2020. The couple stated in the article, that calling is not enough for them. That’s why they have decided to meet by the border to hang out, talk and enjoy the time together, while having meals and drinks like they would do on a regular evening. By doing so, they are not violating any restrictions, and keep a general distance of 6 feet. 


When I first saw that picture it instantly warmed my heart. Many people feel trapped inside unable to see family, relatives and friends. We feel like all of the restrictions, laws and recommendations are taking mundane activities, like having dinner with your partner, away. But this older couple is showing us just the opposite. Despite everything going on, they still make their visits happen. They found a way to make the best out of their situation: a picnic by the border. However by doing so, they are not stupid like the idiots who throw Corona Parties and violate the recommendations from health care professionals. This old couple is modelling how to handle this situation properly; by being creative, innovative and smart. Particularly in times like these we tend to limit the activity of our creative brain. We are going on with our days, trying to stick to a somewhat daily routine, but never doing more than we need to do; this is wrong! We should keep on thinking outside of the box rather than stimulating our brains with boredom. That is how ideas like these come to life. Especially because nobody can tell when all of this is going to be over. By the time this article was written the Danish-German border had been closed for two weeks. By the time I am writing this blogpost it has almost been two months.The two of them still make an effort to see each other that not even closed borders can really separate them. I think this is important to not only live from day to day but also keep relationships with other people alive. As humans and as social beings we need relationships and social contacts. And I suppose staying in contact with our loved ones also helps us to keep our sanity.

 Another message that I see hidden in this picture is the one of the strength of love. Love always wins. I have watched enough Disney  and Barbie movies in my life to be forever convinced of the power of love. With so many borders closed world wide, it is easy to forget about our global community. We should not forget that we had already in pre-corona times achieved a peaceful  life with our neighbors from other countries and we should aim to maintain this community during corona and particularly post-corona times. One last thing: love knows no borders and neither does the pandemic. We discriminate upon man-made ideals which are ignored by natural phenomena… but disease treats us all the same, and love does the same; love treats us as equals. Let’s let the latter win by not forgetting about the ones we love and by standing strong and united in these times of COVID-19.




Stay healthy and safe or get better soon,

Paulina



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