The Corona virus has been an historic event in the world, but also one in our own lives. I really wanted to capture the spirit of this time and create little time-capsules for families, to remember these strange times with. So, I went out making window portraits and photographed 23 different families. It was really beautiful to take their images and read their stories. You can read some of the lockdown stories below.
Claire’s Lockdown Story
A mother’s 60th birthday not celebrated,
A 1st birthday hidden from view,
But grandparents are too precious to lose.
Not much work and maybe too much play,
Achieving learning and home improvement the order of the day,
A daily bike ride or run through the park- rain or shine,
Makes you aware of time passing due to nature’s beautiful timeline.
Returning from maternity leave to work in the NHS,
We’re all doing our jobs as we always have- even when we were noticed less,
The biggest change is determination not to bring this “work” home,
Too many of our keyworker colleagues already leave loved ones sadly alone.
But family time is golden- even though not all laughter and smiles,
Both parents seeing baby’s 1st steps- the first of many miles,
The successes and failures of new dishes attempted in the kitchen,
Ingredients not always available gets you looking around, experimenting.
But no yeast needed to raise human spirit, friendship and compassion,
Whilst all kept apart, alternative communication and neighbourhood watch is all the fashion,
As the mist of social distancing due to Corona lifts, let’s try to protect,
The community, the togetherness, the respect for keyworkers as the lasting effect”.
Kiera’s Lockdown Story
Samantha’s Lockdown Story
Me and dad both run businesses, so we’ve needed to keep them running and work together to balance that.
However, normally we live very fast lives and always take on a lot so the slowed pace has been a welcome change and an eye opener.
Things we will continue to do after lockdown: Zoom calls and quizzes with family spread over the country, work from home more and more home cooked meals.”
Ronke’s Lockdown Story
Yes we have rubbed each other up the wrong way and bumped into each other along the way but we have become each other’s greatest cheerleaders as we have undertaken a family indoor rowing fundraising challenge to collectively row at least half a marathon every day in the month of May! We have each greatly surpassed what we thought was possible partly due to the power of our teamwork & spurring one another on to raise funds for a charity dear to our hearts. Covid-19 has been an invisible enemy but it sure has catapulted us into deeper bonds of love & friendship on so many levels.
Grateful??”
Jo’s Lockdown Story
Adjusting to a different way of living takes up all the hours of the day. Parenting under lockdown is not ideal and, for me, there are times when just having time to yourself is an unimaginable luxury.
With this lockdown life, it is certainly the smaller things you come to appreciate – a quiet moment, sitting in the sunshine, affectionate times with my son. I’ve been connecting with my friends and family more, and we’ve discovered what a wonderful local community we live in. Our street has formed a mutual support group and every day it highlights the kindness and generosity of the people around us.
I take life one day at a time, as I know we will be one of the last to leave lockdown conditions. During this time, I do have hopes for the future though – I hope we don’t forget what’s really important in life or stop valuing our key workers. I hope we change our society’s values for the better, with an emphasis on community, caring and compassion. In the rush back to normalcy, I hope we reconsider what we want ‘normal’ to be. And I hope we take the best of this crisis and use it to forge a better future, together.”
Due to the Corona Virus I couldn’t do any work and taking these window portraits gave me a purpose. I raised money for the NHS and felt like I was contributing in my own little way. It gave me the opportunity to see other people and have a socially distanced chat. Making portraits got me out of the house, into unknown streets and broke my own little bubble I was living in during this time of social distancing. It was a joy to make these window portraits and I hope these pictures and the memories that belong to them will be something to cherish.
If you enjoyed these photos and stories, then do have a look at the Hold Still community project. This project shows a unique collective portrait of the UK during lockdown and was organised by The Duchess of Cambridge.
