Included in New York Times Business section 2020 Photos of the Year
January 13, 2021

LINCOLN, MASSACHUSETTS - MAY. 28, 2020. Jennifer Gouldstone, founder and CEO of Garden Streets, an interior plant provider and care service, takes variegated schefflera arboricola plants (dwarf umbrella trees) to a dumpster after removing them from the offices of marketing company Thompson Habib Denison in Lincoln, Massachusetts, on Thu., May 28, 2020. The plants had bugs that Gouldstone didn't want to transfer to other plants in this office or in her company's nursery. Most offices in Massachusetts have been mostly empty since mid-March 2020 as part of the statewide stay-at-home orders issued by Governor Charlie Baker as part of the response to the ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic. While reopening procedures in the state are likely to allow up to 10% of employees to return to offices in late May and early June, many offices have told employees not to expect to return to work until September 2020 or even January 2021. Plantcare services have been deemed "essential work" allowing ongoing plant maintenance to continue during the closures, though some offices opted not to continue. CREDIT: M. Scott Brauer for the New York Times

One of my photos, an image from my piece on office plants left behind during the pandemic, was included in the New York Times Business section's 2020 Year in Photos, When Business as Usual Was Turned Upside Down.

I'm particularly proud of the piece, which started as an idea I had during a shower early in the pandemic, and after a successful pitch to the Times, ended up as a full page in the paper, and now it's great to see the work recognized in their year-end wrap-up.

All content © 2005-2025 M. Scott Brauer