How Georgia Emerged from Lockdown in the Summer of 2021
The Maskless Series is my Raging-20s inspired exploration of how Georgia emerged from lockdown in the summer of 2021. I tell this story through prose, poetry, and photography, using a variety of culturally defining scenes across the state. The Maskless Series portrays the societal tribes and the figurative masks we wear. The title poem, “Maskless,” anchors the series, using our modern Covid masks as a metaphor for the masks we wear in everyday life—whether we’re covering features we’re ashamed of or hiding behind social media filters. Ultimately, it’s about finding our tribes.
Each distinct poem in the series reflects the uniqueness of different cultural scenes in Georgia while highlighting our shared connections, whether through the ways we have fun or our Georgia roots. The poems and accompanying photos showcase scenes from Atlanta’s hookah bars, the local punk scene, the hip-hop scene, the posh brunch scene, and more. Titles include “Green Apple Tobacco,” “PBR Dreams,” “Plastic Flowers,” “Neon Rising Sign,” “Misfit’s Retreat,” “Burning Freedom,” and, of course, the title poem “Maskless.”
I felt compeled to tell this post-lockdown story from our perspective given that it is a rare occassion when the world shares such a unique experience together. I known not everyone emerged from lockdown ready to jump back into social gatherings, but some did. These are some of those people.
People spent a year waiting to do the things they love in the scenes that resonate with them. And now everyone is going buck wild in their unique element. But even though each scene is different, there’s a connection in how we all celebrate. People are doing similar things, just with different fashion and different music. I coined “Raging 20s” because there is a similarity with the Roaring 20s and a rebelliousness that was happening everywhere.
The idea for this series came to me after I witnessed a cultural shift post-lockdown—a shift that spanned scenes and political affiliations and seemed to create a wave of expression in the summer of 2021. With inhibitions lowered, our self-imposed “masks” seemed to come off, and for a moment, people were free to be their genuine selves in the comfort of their own scenes.
Here are the poems I wrote about each scene that I experienced here in Atlanta at the time:
Discovering what moves us 