A flight attendant is taking surreal photographs that show what flights look like in the middle of the pandemic

Choma said that every job and every worker is going through something he or she has never gone through before. The world will look different after this, but Choma believes people will continue to fly.

"When it's safe to do so, I'm excited for that day," she said.

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"I'm just figuring out how to be there for people when you have nothing to give them except navigating them from point A to point B," Choma said.

She hopes that her passengers can feel a sense of peace when they step on the plane. If they're tired, she urges them to sleep. If they're quiet, she makes sure to stay silent.

She said she can feel the emotional weight many of them are bringing onto the plane.

"Maybe I can carry a little bit of that for them," she said.

While the full flights once felt hectic and busy, it's a feeling Choma and many of her colleagues are missing.

While thousands of flight attendants have stopped flying, these pictures give a glimpse at what that work looks like today.

"I'm communicating to my colleagues what it's like here," she said. "And maybe even affirming that they made the right choice."

Photography allows her coworkers to take a break.

By shifting their focus on a photograph or recreating the scene, it helps "get your brain out of the 'what-if situations.'"

One result of the situation is that it's created a stronger support network, Choma explained.

New Facebook groups, text threads, and conversations have started to support one another.

Choma described the airline industry as "one big family." That's become even more apparent now.

"It's kind of opened the communication gates," she said.

On social media and in the news, lighthearted stories about how flight attendants are coping with the situation have gone viral.

While Choma acknowledges that those fun videos are important, she also wanted to show "the more pensive, harder side of this."

After chatting with coworkers, many were eager to help her create her vision.

During downtime before, during, or after a flight, Choma takes out her camera. She only photographs her consenting coworkers, never passengers.

Choma said she often tries to recreate the scenes she saw when the flight attendants were working.

Choma's friend urged her to start taking pictures of flights again.

Choma had previously documented Virgin Airlines when the company merged with Alaska Airlines.

Her photographs helped preserve Virgin Airlines' history.

"That was the first time in the airlines where I was trying to figure out how I felt about something," she said. "It was helpful to process that through photography."

While chatting with her friend about the coronavirus and its impact on aviation, Choma thought photography could help her process this situation.

Choma's mother was a flight attendant. From a young age, Choma recognized the inherent danger in being and working on planes.

Choma said she's come to terms with the risks. "I'm younger. I'm healthy. I don't have kids. I don't have a family or anyone that relies on me financially," she explained.

So Choma chooses to continue to fly.

She did add that there's a heightened awareness of the danger, but that "part of my job is to be alert at all times."

Choma was on a plane nearly every day in March.

But now she's on standby while a majority of her scheduled flights get canceled.

"My decision to keep working is just based on the people I've seen flying," she told Insider.

Her interactions with passengers and their need to get from one place to another have helped her understand the essential role of flights.

"There are not that many flights anymore, but for the few flights that are left, it's really important for people who can and are willing to keep showing up to work," Choma said.

While the planes might be emptier, the atmosphere feels heavier, Choma explained.

"There have always been essential travelers on the planes, but they're always cushioned by business and vacation travelers," she said.

Now that the nonessential travelers have vanished, the flights have a different feeling. That tone of pensiveness or exhaustion is conveyed through her photographs.

When Choma described her recent flights, words like "heavy," "surreal," and "weighted," floated throughout the conversation.

Choma's average flight has between eight and 12 people, and the passengers are often medical workers or people flying to say goodbye to loved ones.

Although Choma only photographs flight attendants, she said she tries to capture the feelings of her passengers through the images.

"I am trying to process what was going on, but do it in a way that would give these empty planes a voice," she told Insider.