Quarantine Days is a visual diary by Christoph J. Kellner, starting on March 17, 2020 in Berlin, Germany. From this perspective, I drew a picture every day during the first 99 days of the Covid-19 pandemic. If it was initially a reason to get up in the morning as all freelance work broke away, the diary quickly became an opportunity for me to reflect on the news out there, to somehow understand what was going on around us.

It’s a personal journey and an attempt to come to terms with the madness that a tiny, insidious virus has brought to our society and turned everyday life upside down worldwide. It is about a deadly threat, lockdowns and other absurdities.

The illustrated diary also documents humanity and hope, steps towards building knowledge and, finally, restored freedoms. It was my first pandemic. It was the first pandemic for everyone. We should not forget that. At best, we’ll learn from it and do better next time.

5 years later, March 21, 2025