Navazo-Ostúa & Pérez Valencia 2022 Masks and emotional distance a visual study of human relationships in the Covid 19 pandemic (1)

Visual Studies
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Masks and emotional distance: a visual study of
human relationships in the Covid-19 pandemic
Pablo Navazo-Ostúa & Francisco Pérez valencia
To cite this article: Pablo Navazo-Ostúa & Francisco Pérez valencia (2022): Masks and emotional
distance: a visual study of human relationships in the Covid-19 pandemic, Visual Studies, DOI:
10.1080/1472586X.2022.2059553
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/1472586X.2022.2059553
Published online: 21 Apr 2022.
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Visual Studies, 2022
https://doi.org/10.1080/1472586X.2022.2059553
Masks and emotional distance: a visual study of human
relationships in the Covid-19 pandemic
PABLO NAVAZO-OSTÚA
and FRANCISCO PÉREZ VALENCIA
This study addresses the social impact of the pandemic in
terms of its effects on communication and emotion in
spaces of everyday domestic activity. The aim is to visually
and formally portray the personal, professional and
citizen reality in the daily use of face masks. The analysis
includes the adoption, advocacy or resistance to them,
through various representative characters of different,
referential social sectors. The effect of masks on
communication and emotional relationships is explored
through photo portraits and qualitative interviews
developed in a small community in Southern Spain. This
work seeks to better understand the communicative,
personal and social consequences of such preventive
measures.
Between various interlocutors, the correct perception
of each other’s emotions and expressions is crucial to
achieve effective communication. The emotions that
we perceive visually influence both our own
emotional expressions and our state of mind (Epstude
and Mussweiler 2009). This is why the accuracy of
emotion recognition and communicative expression
is of vital importance, since it also determines the
effectiveness of the messages transmitted between
subjects (Joseph and Newman 2010). It is clear that,
due to their protective function, face masks reduce
the visibility of most facial expressions. They also
reduce the accuracy of recognition of expressions and
emotions.
The main purpose of this study is focused on the visual
portraits and stories that are extracted from the same
testimonies, contextualised in a very specific place and
time. The analysis of the data obtained after the
interview process constitute the procedure of inquiry,
based on qualitative information-gathering techniques.
Our aim is to achieve an analytical framework for
visual methods of research (Pauwels 2010) combining
interviews based on life stories and visual portraits. The
life stories portrayed here are based on personal
testimonies and facial expressions that make up the
sample. As Prosser & Schwartz suggested, the
motivation is to stimulate comments not on the
content of the photograph but on what is intimate to
the interviewees that is ‘triggered’ by the photograph
itself (Prosser and Schwartz 1998). Through them, we
intend to portray a current reality, linked and shaped
by the faces and experiences lived by the subjects
themselves.
As Wagner (2002) suggested in his analysis, we
understand the portrait photography as a medium for
illustrating the research findings with the methods
involving interviews and Life Stories, as well as an even
more relevant way of intervention for generating new
ethnographic insights. Visual sociology and
documentary photography, as Becker (1995) pointed
out, are not less than social constructions, pure and
simple. They resemble all the other ways of reporting
what we know, or think we have found out, about the
societies we live in (Becker 1995) (Figure 1).
Our aim is to explore the habits and uses of a population
belonging to the community of Sanlúcar de Barrameda
(Cádiz). Within the community social fabric, six social
domains were identified as representative of daily
domestic activity. Among the different segments that
shape the daily reality of the community are family,
education, health, hospitality, culture and sports. The
people representing each of the described domains were
interviewed and photographed in their everyday
environments. The domesticity of the photographs come
Pablo Navazo-Ostúa PhD Degree Cum Laude in Information Sciences from Complutense University of Madrid since 2016/2017 academic year. Professor of
Communication Degree at Loyola Andalucía University since 2018. He participates in several research projects, whose main contribution lies in his specialization
in Cultural Studies, Design and Visual Communication. Master Professor in Political and Business Communication master course, as well as Digital Marketing
master course at Camilo José Cela University. Research member of CIGMAP and specialist in Audiovisual and Contemporary Art. Co-founder and CEO in
Visualize.es and national collaborator of TEDx Spain.
Francisco Pérez Valencia PhD from the University of Seville, he teaches regularly at numerous universities in Spain and Latin America in the field of Creative and
Experimental Museography, as well as in sensitive and emotional areas. Artist and museographer specialising in contemporary artistic languages, he is an outstanding innovator of exhibition practice and is present in some of the most representative art collections in Spain. He is currently Professor at the Universidad
Loyola Andalucía. Since 2010, he has been developing a project for innovation in human organisations and business management, called The Emotional University, with an outstanding participation of culture and artistic creation.
© 2022 International Visual Sociology Association
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P. Navazo-Ostúa and F. Pérez Valencia
FIGURE 1. The total sample photographed in their regular environments.
from their aim to capture the spontaneity of everyday
life. These are natural photographs, without any digital
manipulation or correction.
FIGURE 2. José Ángel, grandfather and Jimena, his granddaughter.
FAMILY DOMAIN: THE STRENGTH OF THE FAMILY
For José Ángel, the mask used in his photo is special,
because it was specially made for him (Figure 2). He
wears it in the most relevant moments, because it is
different, more aesthetically pleasing than the rest. He is
very aware of the challenge, he is currently facing with the
pandemic and feels that the need for the mask will linger
for a long time, to the extent that he would not mind
continuing to wear it, even if it were not mandatory.
Jimena is a creative child. She is always looking for ways to
express herself. She has several masks but two of them
were her favourites (the one pictured is one of them), the
others make her uncomfortable, her ears hurt. She
Masks and emotional distance
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HOSPITALITY: THE PLEASURE OF A GOOD COFFEE
FIGURE 3. Macarena, school teacher and María, her student.
chooses them according to the outfit or situation. She
cares because it’s all about the details. She is a responsible
girl. She wears the masks while watching TV or when
family members are around. She misses her grandparents.
She has not seen her grandfather José Ángel since the
beginning of the confinement in early 2020.
EDUCATION DOMAIN: EDUCATION IS THE
PRESENT
Macarena is a primary school teacher (Figure 3). She now
feels that each classroom is like a micro-school, with its
own specific systems, particularities and obligations. The
pandemic and the use of face masks for protection have
changed things considerably within the classroom. Now
students are not able to participate in collaborative work,
where they worked in pairs, and some students served as
tutors to others, who in turn, reciprocated in subjects
where they felt most comfortable and talented. She spends
many hours talking to her youngsters, breathing in her
constant effort to be heard, even with a microphone.
Maria is very mature for her age. She misses the
collaborative activities in class, such as the dynamics that
her teacher Macarena used to do last year, sharing her
doubts with a colleague and trying to help each other. But
she has generally adapted well to the new situation. She
continues to express herself in the same way, because she
also lets her body speak and she gestures naturally with her
eyes and eyelids. She also uses her shoulders. When she
cannot hear a classmate well, she asks them to speak louder.
FIGURE 4. Rafa, hospitality professional and Ángel, a regular customer.
Rafa is serious on the outside, but he has a sense of
humour, he laughs a lot, especially at himself (Figure 4).
He loves working with his customers. Rafa boasts a sixth
sense about his clients. He believes that now the mask
provides the information, along with customers’ tics
such as touching it excessively or the ones that pull it up
because it constantly slips off, representing new acquired
quirks that matters to him. He recognises that everything
is a bit colder and that he misses their facial features and
what this meant for the communication potential.
Angel is Rafa’s best customer. He usually gets Rafa to
come out of the bar counter and sit at his table. He always
wears a mask, as he is required to do for safety. He now
recognises that his visits to Rafa’s cafe have become
spaced out. He prefers peace and quiet. Ángel always
spoke with his whole face, moved his eyebrows, smiled
frequently and let others see some small wrinkles in the
corner of his eyelids. He continues to see a powerful
reason to observe and be attentive in the eyes of others.
SPORTS DOMAIN: LOOKING INTO THE EYES IS
WINNING A FIGHT
Luis is a boxing coach (Figure 5). Precisely a sport where
the gaze has an essential role and becomes in itself a vast
compendium of communication, due to the direct contact
between both opponents. For Luis, the great difficulty
FIGURE 5. Luis, coach and Daniel, boxer.
FIGURE 6. José Luis, the team leader and Rosa, a dental assistant.
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P. Navazo-Ostúa and F. Pérez Valencia
with the use of the mask comes during cardio dominance
exercises, such as punching the bag, where the mask
prevents breathing and easy recovery. It becomes
impossible. Luis also recognises that he must now scream
more in order to be heard by the group of trainees.
Daniel has not competed since the beginning of the
pandemic. He says he feels more prepared, his weight is
under control and he has a high concentration capacity,
which have benefited from not being able to go out and
focusing on his training. When Luis mentioned the fact
that it is important to look into the eyes, Daniel
recognised that he could see whether he will win the
fight or whether it will be difficult in his opponent’s
eyes.
HEALTHCARE DOMAIN: THE FRONTLINE
José Luis has been wearing the medical safety mask for
more than 20 years (Figure 6). They are inseparable. He
is a dentist. He acknowledges that he has not become
sick in many years and believes that this may be largely
due to the strict control he has with regard to his
patients, which causes him to become isolated from his
surroundings. He has not seen the full face of anyone on
his team since the beginning of the pandemic. For José
Luis, wearing a mask and demanding safety in his
environment is routine.
Rosa is in absolute harmony with the mask. She is
concerned that others cannot see her smile, because she
is the first team member who assists the patient. She tries
to make up for this by maintaining a lively tone in her
conversation, even on the phone, raising her eyes and
trying to display increased expressivity. Within the
office, she wears a professional FFP2 mask. Her husband
had COVID-19, so she is meticulous about safety within
the home. In the practice, she only removes it at
lunchtime, only for five minutes and away from the rest
of the team. She assists the customers and tries to be
close to them. The mask does not prevent her from
doing so. She tries harder.
FIGURE 7. Isidro, musician and Belén, actress.
CULTURAL DOMAIN: CULTURE OR LIFE
Isidro feels that his concern and memory are being tested
at this time (Figure 7). He feels no hesitation in wearing
the mask. He lives it as if it were part of a dystopian or
science fiction work, something unreal, and yet he fully
assumes it. From his concert tours, he especially
remembers that, more than 20 years ago in Japan, it was
not uncommon for him to wear a mask in ordinary life.
At that time, he understood that it was more a question
of education than health. He is taking the safety
requirements very seriously.
Belén, as a professional actress, struggles with wearing a
mask during rehearsals and also the absence of physical
contact with her colleagues, in order to be able to express
using the five senses. She hopes that this situation is
temporary and that she will return to the theatre stages
like before. Belén is a woman who is full of life. Wearing a
mask brings about some internal conflicts. Personally, her
major struggle lies in how to kiss those she truly loves.
CONCLUSIONS
Masks entered the lives of most of these people during
the pandemic and beyond their protective function, they
have also served as a visual and collective reminder of the
prevailing threat of the virus. While, on the other hand,
the widespread use of face masks has represented, along
with other factors, a partial return to a normalised life.
This element of preventive health care is therefore
understood as a multiple, complex and polysemic social
symbol. It is associated, on the one hand, with threat and
fear, while, on the other hand, it is associated with
greater freedom and health safety.
The primary function of masks to effectively stop the
spread of the virus is recognised by all, but prolonged use
can have collateral consequences for social relations.
Reducing the ability to recognise emotions, social empathy
in interactions and highlighting the fact that masks
influence, to a greater or lesser extent, the closeness of
emotional relationships. As Belting indicates, when an
interlocutor uses a mask, we can only see the eyes of the
mask-wearer. At that point, the gaze, which we can
suddenly no longer interpret, acquires an uncanny force
that renders us powerless. When we find ourselves
restricted to such a gaze, disembodied from the face, we are
no longer capable of exchanging glances (Belting 2017).
Masks not only separate the interlocutors in a physical and
figurative sense, but they can also generate a feeling of
uncertainty and doubt among the subjects themselves.
This work is determined by the wealth of projections,
motives and possibilities reflected in this study. The
Masks and emotional distance
different individual positions and attitudes towards the
same threat and to the same measure are portrayed here.
Therefore, the use of this common element – the facial
mask – as a shared element to protect each other, is still
open to discussion as to whether it will modify
communication and emotional expression in the long run.
DISCLOSURE STATEMENT
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the
author(s).
ORCID
Pablo Navazo-Ostúa http://orcid.org/0000-00030530-3652
Francisco Pérez Valencia http://orcid.org/0000-00031824-0793
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