I read an article about photographers changing there are techniques during lockdown. When I started this new project this idea came to me through experimentation. Although we were told to ‘social distance’ there wasn’t an actual lockdown. After taking photos outside, I simply pointed my camera at my sister who was posing through a window. This obviously developed into an idea that fitted perfectly with the lockdown.
But since time has gone by, I have seen so many photographers doing the same thing. It is understandable that while in lockdown this is one of the only portraits you can take of other people. There is not much I can do about this apart from find ways to make mine stand out.
The first thing I have noticed in quite a few of the photographers I have researched is that the people in the images are smiling. I do like these, it is a nice way of documenting families in lockdown. It could be that they are simply documenting people and giving no instructions to keep it natural as possible. Or it could be that they are trying to show a positive look on the situation. The photos above, taken from an article, make it seem like the families are appreciating that they have more time to spend together. My work has a slightly different meaning behind it. There has been a lot of death, job loss and uncertainty, and so for me I think it is important to see the negative impacts on our life. I like that other photographers have shown the positives in the situations as I think this is currently what people need to see to feel more motived. Whereas with mine, I want people to look back in the future and start to see and understand the emotions that most people felt while in lockdown.
Photographer, Lisa Whiteman, says her images are all different and it is an interesting challenge to work out. She talks about how she thinks about how to use the window, the house and surroundings. In my project I have decided that getting close to the subject works best for me. Because I have done this in all my shoots they are more consistent than some others I have seen where they have include more of the persons house. As my aim is to have large prints of the portraits, I think having them all look similar could be more impactful. It is easy to see and compare their expressions.
I do agree with Whiteman says these images can only tell so much. One of her photos shows someone who is ‘undergoing cancer treatments, and can’t leave the house at all, and is dealing with this alone – but that definitely does not come through in the photo’. Coronavirus has affected pretty much everyones lives in some way or another. It is difficult to tell each story through just one portrait. It makes me think, is there a way I could incorporate text to add more depth to this project. I don’t usually like adding much text as I like the photos to portray the context but as these are such unusual times, people might be more interested if there was more on the stories of each person. Both people viewing it now, and in the future. I once went to a talk by Leonie Hampton where she talked about her work where she included videos and transcripts of conversation and I felt so much more engaged when looking at it.
Lucy Davis 