ON PAUSE – Three Months that Changed New York. In the spring of 2020, the new Coronavirus shut down New York City. Governor Andrew Cuomo declared that New York City was “on pause” and the city’s deserted avenues, bridges, and train stations became a global symbol of the ravages of the pandemic and our attempts to escape it. Through epic photos, thematic essays, and in-depth interviews with New Yorkers who stayed during the months when everything changed, ON PAUSE chronicles a unique time in the city that never sleeps. 

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ON PAUSE initially started as a way for Charlie Bennet to support himself during the shutdown. He would document the deserted city and sell the images as art prints. The prints became so popular that the wishes for a collection of the phots were requested by his customers and that's when the idea of a book that told the afterworld about this very unique time in New York came to life. The book was created together with author and journalist Helena Gustavsson and graphic designer Jon Palmqvist. Eventually published by the small independent publisher Winifred Publishing in 2021 the project started as a Kickstarter-project raising over $40,000 to pay for printing and distribution. The book is available in Swedish and English.