Before the coronavirus pandemic, Rick Fichter was both a bird photographer and a tattoo artist, working from his shop in Pennsauken, New Jersey, which lies across the Delaware River from Philadelphia. After New Jersey’s governor issued a stay-at-home order on March 21, Fichter closed his shop and now stays home, photographing his backyard birds.
Recently, Fichter decided to memorialize everyone from New Jersey who dies due to COVID-19 by sharing photos of cardinals in their honor. He posts one new cardinal photo on Facebook for every Garden State resident lost to the pandemic. As of April 15, he has posted more than 2,800 images.
View Fichter’s Cardinals for Coronavirus page.
The state is second only to New York in the numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths.
He has taken all of the photos since the day his tattoo shop closed. And they’ve all been taken while following social distancing guidelines from his home in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
Why cardinals? Lots of people, as you may know, take solace in the beauty of cardinals after loved ones pass away. And, Fichter notes, “I have done a ton of cardinal tattoos to memorialize those who have passed.”
He also writes that “you may think sometimes that scrolling through the cardinals they are the same, but I assure you every shot is different just as every human that was lost is different. Yet we are all the same.
“Cardinals are a constant reminder of hope and such a beautiful bird to commemorate and memorialize each soul who has passed from this dreadful virus.”
You can see Fichter’s photos of other birds (as well as cardinals) on his website and his Instagram page.
Previous stories related to the pandemic:
It’s time to close public lands and bird from home
Canceled birding festivals, conservation groups need your support
A letter from Beijing on birding and COVID-19
Originally Published
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