Adam Isfendiyar, a photographer based in London has captured people’s lives in lockdown. He posted on Facebook asking for people to participate in ‘window portraits’. He had loads of response and spent bike rides going to different houses. He collected their personal stories and experiences of life in lockdown.
“What is happening at the moment is an event that everyone in the world can connect with and I wanted to be able to help to build connection through identification with others in a time of isolation,”
Because he visited many people in different places, the photos are all quite different. Some are through windows showing the reflection of outside. Others show people on balconies. They range from people looking into the camera, smiling. Whilst others look longingly into the distance.
I like that he has documented many people as it shows that it is a situation every one is going through. In the article it included text from the people he photographed. This is effective as it makes it more intriguing. I think in this situation it is easy to get caught up on the statistic and figures and so it is good to see how it has affected people. It makes you more empathetic and think more about just the numbers shown on the news.
I like these images individually but as a series they are all quite different. In my work I am planning on making my images look more like each other. I am aiming to focus on window portraits as I think the reflection of the outside being shown is really effective. Having them being the same will also allow to portray the message that everyone is in a similar situation.
Lucy Davis 