It’s almost two years since I started this project – portraits of people on their doorsteps during lockdown 2020. Each wrote an honest account of their experience. In February 2022 I caught up with 11 people from the series to ask them how they feel now. Below each image, you can hear a short recording of them reflecting on this unusual time.
Six of the photographs are currently on display in FIELD, Enfield. It’s a space run by Artist Hive Studios, a successful local artist studio provider based in Enfield. Supporting local creatives and providing a catalyst for exchange with the local community by engaging in public realm projects.
If you’re interested in the photographs or stories from this remarkable project, there is a book featuring over 100 images, available to buy in FIELD in Enfield, Waterstones nationality and on Amazon, or directly from me.
Mary
After a tumultuous couple of years Mary looks back on the difficulties of lockdown and the impact it had on her cancer treatment.
She updates us on doing well on a clinical trial.
Maggie, Tim, Evie, Lola, William
Maggie looks back on lockdown with bittersweet memories, and talks about how nature helped her through and continues to play a vital role in the family’s life.
Rita & Louella
Looking back on a rollercoaster time during 2020, Rita and Louella are so happy to have their freedom back.
Khadijeh, Mohsen, Arvin, Mohammad, Olivia
This smiling Iranian family were anxiously awaiting news from The Home Office when this photograph was taken. Now they are much more settled in the UK and happy to call London home.
Kate
Kate talks about how during lockdown she felt compelled to throw herself into the role of teacher for her two young children.
Yasmin, David and Rocky
Yasmin, a secondary school teacher tells us about the magical time that lockdown afforded her and her siblings in 2020, enabling them to spend more time than usual with their father. “In loving memory of Hassan Ali Khan”
Patricia had battled with the tsunami of infection that took over the care home where she worked in 2020. This time around, she feels more confident and well prepared for coronavirus.
Eme, pictured here with her three children looks back on lockdown as a time that can never again be experienced, a time of very mixed and very large emotions.
Louise, Richard, Giselle, Henry
Louise bravely wrote a beautiful piece on lockdown about her family’s grief after the sudden death of her son Henry shortly before lockdown. Here, two years later she reflects on that time. Listen to her new found love of wild swimming.
David, a mental health nurse, talks about lockdown, grief, missing the contact of friends and how he finds theatre the best therapy.
Victoria, Joe and Eden
Victoria looks back with mixed emotions at the experience of giving birth during a pandemic, and more about expecting another baby in 2022.
