They are pressed up against the atrium windows of the Ohio Statehouse. Crowded together and yelling. Protesters demanding an end to the stay-at-home order in Ohio.

You’ve probably seen the above photo on social media sometime during the past couple of days. It’s gone viral as people debate stay-at-home orders amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Dispatch photographer Joshua Bickel took the photo that accompanied the story by Anna Staver and Cole Behrens. Bickel agreed to answer some questions about the photo as well as what it is like to be a photojournalist during this time. You can find some of his favorite photos that he’s taken above.

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Bickel has been a photojournalist for about 11 years, and has been at the Dispatch since October 2016. Before that he worked at ThisWeek Community News for four years and spent a year each at the Casper Star-Tribune in Wyoming and the Columbia Daily Tribune in Missouri. His first job was as an adjunct instructor at the University of Missouri where he taught picture editing.

He’s originally from Wichita, Kansas, and went to the University of Kansas where he got degrees in Journalism and Spanish. After that he went to the University of Missouri and have a graduate degree in photojournalism.

Bickel and his wife moved to Columbus in 2012 from Wyoming for her job.

"We're full on Ohioans now with two dogs and two daughters," he said.

What kinds of photos have you taken during the pandemic?

At first, we weren't doing much. Everything was getting canceled and we were finding our footing as to how we as a photo department wanted to visually tell this story. I've tried to find everyday scenes that feel surreal given our situation: deserted city streets, playgrounds with equipment wrapped in caution tape, outdoor signs with coronavirus-inspired sayings; things that I've never seen in my life and may not ever again. One of my favorite images I've made during the pandemic is a really personal portrait of our two daughters in their Easter dresses with matching face masks that my wife made. It's one that our family will look back on decades from now and probably go "man, that was a weird time."

What scenes have stood out to you the most during this time?

I've seen some shocking images coming out of France and Europe, where the journalists got incredible access and made some really compelling pictures. There's also been some great work coming out of New York City of the health care workers on the front lines, and just the toll this is taking on them emotionally and physically. It's also strange to see large public gathering places completely devoid of people.

Describe the scene when you took this photo.

Myself and about a dozen or so other journalists were inside the atrium at the Ohio Statehouse for Gov. Mike DeWine's daily update. About 100-150 protesters had gathered outside the Statehouse before the briefing started at 2 p.m. At first they were outside the State Room where these daily briefings usually take place. A couple days before a group of protesters assembled in the same spot and could be heard during the briefing on television. On this day, the governor, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted and Dr. Amy Acton were giving the briefing from a different interior room inside the Statehouse, so the protesters weren't as easily heard during the briefing. At some point, they moved around to the south side of the atrium where we were sitting, came up to the windows and started chanting.

Before the briefing started, I had made some pictures of them from inside the Statehouse and from an interior walkway above the atrium. Once the briefing started, I wasn't too concerned with making pictures because I was running the livestream of the briefing to the Dispatch's Facebook page. After about an hour or so, reporters started asking questions and the crowd outside started chanting again, and at some point started banging on some windows briefly. At that point I got up and decided to walk by the windows just to see what was going on. I remember walking by the door and seeing people up at the door chanting. I thought the framing of the door and windows was interesting so I stood there for a brief second kind of composing the picture in my head. I made 7 frames of the scene in about 10 seconds, and then left, walking over to another side of the atrium where I heard some other protesters, then went back to my computer to check the livestream.

Did you think this photo would get so much attention?

Not at all. I remember thinking the composition was interesting and the people were emotional, but not much beyond that. In fact, it wasn't even my first choice of the images that I sent in that afternoon; our picture editor Craig Holman moved it with our story. Watching this image circulate over the last 48 hours is surreal, but going viral wasn't something I set out to do.

I should note that this image really isn't my style, meaning I don't cover a lot of breaking news, and I don't think I'm particularly good at it. I like making images that take more patience, more access and more trust between myself and the people I photograph. Trust is really important to me when I'm telling someone's story and I always try to be honest with the images I make. This image is the total opposite of that: it happened quickly, I was in a position where I couldn't talk with these people and I had other things I was responsible for that day. That this image is getting all this attention is not something I expected or set out to achieve.

What lessons have you learned both personally and professionally during the pandemic?

Personally, I've learned that we have it pretty good at my house, all things considered. We're able to work from home except when we go out on assignment, and my mother-in-law has been here off and on to help out with our daughters, who have been out of daycare since early March. But I've also learned that there's a lot of people out there who are struggling: they can't work from home, they've lost their jobs or shut down their business, and they don't have time to homeschool their kids. The personal effects of this are different for everyone, and they're certainly not equal. I worry about my dad back in Kansas, who runs a small business with about 20 employees and my mom who's a nurse volunteering right now in New York City. I know we'll make it through this, but the big question is when, and what will things be like when it's over?

Professionally, I've been reminded how lucky I am to work with such dedicated visual journalists. Every day I get to work with colleagues that produce amazing work and are compassionate human beings, and sometimes that gets lost in the everyday grind. We're a pretty good unit, and we've all been doing some fantastic work right now while trying to keep our personal lives together as well. I've also learned that I miss seeing them every day in person. Also, I've realized how hard it is to do this job from a distance. The best journalism is done when we can be where things are happening, when we can talk in an intimate setting with people about their story. That's really hard to do right now and even though we've all adapted, it's made me realize how important that personal connection is in great journalism.