The photographer Ansel Adams once said, “Photography is an austere and blazing poetry of the real.” In the reality of our current times, it’s hard to process the collective trauma we’ve all been experiencing, yet there are intrepid photographers who today are capturing the story of the pandemic, especially its toll on older adults, health care workers and those left behind, through haunting photographs and portraits of what remain. For example, there is the Spanish photographer for the Associated Press Emilio Morenatti, whose memorable photos of Barcelona health care workers and elderly residents were recently featured in The Washington Post. Or consider the six months of pandemic photography recently published in Science Magazine, which includes touching portraits of family members saying goodbye, and health care workers overwhelmed by the relentless nature of their work. There’s the new book of photography entitled How We Live Now: Scenes from the Pandemic by photographer Bill Hayes, that captures the eerie transformation of New York City during the pandemic. Finally, take a look at this recent Guardian photo essay on the work of Simon Bray, whose photo project Loved and Lost captures the grief of surviving family members as they remember and recreate scenes of their deceased loved ones.

But in contrast to the somber, consider the silly: That is, with much downtime and little to do during quarantine, some have used imagery and photography to capture the resilient and creative human spirit even in the midst of despair. For example, take a look at these photos of senior residents of the Amenida Seniors Community in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada who recently put together bits of this and that to recreate famous museum portraits from the Getty Museum Collection. Nothing like using the quarantine to be inventive and comical.

Finally, we all deserve the treat of beautiful portraits of older women whose individual style and confidence portray a boldness and resilience that are refreshing in these times of anxiety and uncertainty. Photographer Suzie Lang has an ongoing photo project entitled Women 60 Plus, and an accompanying Instagram account, that features gorgeous shots of intriguing older women displaying their own unique style and personality. With over 10,000 followers on social media, she’s clearly created photos that capture our need to see beauty and vitality at this time.