Desert Bus 2020

Desert Bus for Hope, for the uninitiated, is an annual fundraiser for the Child’s Play charity. Every year, a group of caring and talented people come together to play the world’s most boring game: Desert Bus. Sounds incredible right? Well, the interesting stuff happens outside of the playing of the game.

This is the fourth year that I’ve volunteered my photographic services and the second year that I’ve been a prize sponsor. Although, this year I was only a photographer in a technical sense.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, health concerns, and legal barriers (as the US/Canadian border is currently closed), I was not able to be physically present to photograph the event, especially considering that each person taking part was streaming remotely from their own homes. While an unfortunate side-effect of ensuring people’s health, I’m glad we did it this way.

Not only were we able to show that Desert Bus for Hope is more than an activity, but it’s also a mindset that we have to carry out throughout our daily lives. A person or community doesn’t need to be physically close to us for us to care about or want to help them. Our default setting should be to reach out and help others, regardless of location or proximity.

Because having an in-house photographer was an impossibility this year, I deputized the chat and the volunteers as official Desert Bus Photographers for the year. I pulled some of PhoticMedia’s resources and we set up a photo submission form with help from Wufoo. The form made it possible for anyone to share their Desert Bus for Hope 2020 experience from their own homes. And, boy, did they deliver! Hundreds of submissions came in, making it possible for me to do my regular photo drops throughout the run.

The looming question that follows is: will there be a photobook? Some seem to think so already. And I don’t see any reason why not, just yet. However, it’s still something that I need to consider and plan out, which normally takes about a year anyhow.

I hope that next year we can return to being in person with Desert Bus for Hope 2021, but I can say that I will still be anxious for the next run, even if it is all virtual again.

Thank you to all the people who submitted photos!