Ben Amando – A Change of Plan

A Change of Plan is an emotional documentary that explores the depths of a distant love story caught within a pandemic. The work engages on a journey of non-acceptance of distance whilst breaking away from our comforts to sacrifice for one another. Venturing into shallow waters to get to the deep end which has the potential to be as damaging for us as it is intoxicating. These photos aim to reveal the influence time and space can have on you and the environment you’re in when there’s ambiguity laying beneath the outcome. An outcome that is ignored at times, but never should be. One where communicating should shine yet can struggle knowing the hardest part is creating the right moment to say what needs to be said. But those words became increasingly unnecessary, as we lay within the objects of our surroundings screaming in the symbolism of our hearts.

A change of season, experienced by both skin and soul. Reflecting the natural end of a moment, fading from the warmest tenderness to a bitter solitude. Shorter days and shorter breaths, we felt time running out of our hands. Isolating together, following the weather changing from the sea to the mountains, chasing opposites looking for answers. This last journey for us was just a change of plan, riding the waves of this foreign force that was difficult to ignore, yet necessary to adapt to. Closed within new boarders drew by human hands, revealing the different colours of freedom. We finally shared a (social) distant love, from a not so very distance. The closer to each other, the more detached by our surroundings. Seeking for the same isolation we were escaping from. Together finally, dazed by flesh and desires we chased for so long. Distance again became an intangible concept, but still the only one that could wake us up from our carnal dreams. A rough reality that led to rough questions, heightened by the pressures of the world, pushing us both into a place of necessary vulnerability. Our eyes pointing at different directions, yet our hearts still holding each other close. This project travelled with us as an important piece of reflection to bring forth clarity to our story, and to absorb the precious and brave moments we constantly fought for, no matter how close we were, or how far we became.

Words by Ben Amando & Marta Santi

Ben Amando is an Australian portrait and documentary photographer who uses photography as his vehicle to create narratives that question the structures of society. His projects are based on the relationship between humans and the environments they inhabit.