Image by Van Kornegay
Lee Ann Kornegay graduated from Media Arts at USC in 1984 and then jumped into advertising/public relations at Chernoff/Silver for 20 years before venturing into documentaries and events.
“Variety is what I enjoy in life. It sustains me. Documentaries and videos of all sorts fill my hard drives and my favorite work is crafting a story, talking to all kinds of humans and recognizing just a glimpse of their impact. I also love listening to structures. They have stories too! History, preservation, restoration are things I care deeply about whether it is a building, a ballpark or an insane asylum.”
Video, photography, editing blur the line of work, play, hobby. It is all of that for me.
PANIC
A look at life in the neighborhood
I love to travel and experience other cultures, but this series “Panic” is an example of the compelling magnet of what is very close by. Neighbors, family, the familiar street or garden.
Since the first inklings of a pandemic began to emerge my sense of worry, anxiety and, yes panic, have been on a sliding scale.
Some years back I worked on a public awareness campaign for SCETV Public broadcasting, sponsored by federal money to educate the public on the possibility of a pandemic. For a couple of years, I was immersed in it and indeed where I met Alejandro – he translated all of the materials. So, this episode in our lifetime was predictable.
I was very aware of how serious this could play out.
At the time it started to creep in, my German professor roommate Anne was headed to a conference in Chicago and then home to Germany for spring break, my 28 year old daughter had just returned stateside from teaching abroad, my elderly parents who thankfully live just down the street were stable with a quality of life envied by many, my brother lives next to them so we are all constantly in contact. March 13th we had a K2 (Kornegay/Kaneft) family meeting and decided to put the elders on lockdown and created a strategy for managing through the next few weeks…. months and beyond. Being with my parents has dominated a good bit of my time.
The first few weeks – panic found a place in my being.
And then…. I moved beyond that to – We still gotta LIVE.
As Dicksens said “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”
True that.
This has been one of the most memorable and beautiful springs I have ever experienced in my 60 years on earth. The birds, the music, the quiet, the neighbors, the solid comradery, the food – all that.
Both elder parents have fallen during this time with one trip to the hospital for my step-dad and then a week of rehab. He is home now and has home health visits and doing well.
All good, that is – after the panic subsides.
These are some of the photographs that have marked my experience in my hood.
Lee Ann Kornegay – Panic 
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