week 1: March 23rd – 29th
The first lockdown week in UK. What a weird week, totally unreal. We don’t quite understand what has hit us all. Work has been cancelled indefinitely. All is closed except food connected services. Notices everywhere. Some shops offer take away service.
The glorious weather is great but adds to the surreal atmosphere. Time is spend reading and listening to news. We welcome this strange break from our hectic lives. We relish in the jokes being shared by friends and families from around the world.
Week 2: March 30th – april 5th
Weather is still wonderful. I don’t ever remember a spring like this. I spend the week cycling around central London taking photographs. London’s landmarks are totally deserted. It’s great cycling in this glorious sunshine with no cars in the streets. Frustrations around online teaching are mounting, it’s insane the time spent online. Feeling resentful at how much I do with no pay
Freelancing is bad at best of times, adding lockdown has added an extra layer of worry. How are we going to manage financially? At home we all seem to go to bed in the early morning hours. Routines are totally broken. It’s almost as though time has stopped. The days come and go, time flies past, nobody knows what day of the week it is.
Week 3: april 6th – April 12th
The entire week has been spent on online work meetings. I had several training hours on different online teaching platforms. I also spent time looking into finances. Decided to apply for government support as money coming in is scarce.
We were supposed to fly to Germany at the end of this week. The plan was to work on family archives and spend Easter with relatives. All is cancelled. Instead, we are all cooped up inside home, not quite knowing what the future holds for us all.
Week 4: April 13th – April 19th
More online work meetings, more frustration. I’ve been asked to create a photographic book on a French house before and after it was renovated. It’s been great having something different to take my mind off and also earn some money. Weather still great.
I went cycling to Camden Lock. Nobody around. Everything deserted. This week Johnson, got Covid, we hear nothing else in the news. We even had calls from abroad asking us about him. A good divergence from what is really going on with the pandemic.
Week 5: April 20th – April 26th
This week is Greek Easter week. Keeping up with family traditions, we dyed Easter eggs and spend time cooking celebratory meals. My partner and our son, spent the early part of the week, decorating in the flat.
My everyday visual diary is being published on Air . It’s been good creating a visual record of what is going on. It’s helping keeping me sane and visually engaged, when there is no other photography work around.
Week 6: April 27th – may 3rd
One great thing with the lockdown has been a lot of online presentations and discussions helping to catch up and develop my photography practice. It would have been impossible to physically attend as many talks and presentations.
Cooking has been another life saviour. We have been eating glorious meals. With the weather still good, cycling around and looking for photographs for the diary has become an essential part of my daily routine.
Week 7: May 4th – May 10th
No students have enrolled for any classes that were starting this week. No work, no money. Furlough, the government scheme, is saving the situation for the moment. Hopefully it will continue, otherwise it will be very hard for a great number of us.
I ask people in the streets to take photographs of them. Everybody is happy to participate. This week I started helping my partner with his work, delivering supplies to elderly people. There was mutual happiness in seeing everyone.
Week 8: May 11th – May 17th
This week I took photographs of the elderly people at Alex’ work. We all met in the park, the first time since March. Everybody was delighted to see each other.
It’s great to chat with the people I meet in the streets. Frustrations, fears but also happiness at having time on their hands, are the prevailing feelings.
Week 9: May 18th – May 24th
Large part of the week was spent on the phone to HMRC sorting through issues regarding the EU settlement scheme, overtaxing, NI and pension contributions. Each time it took almost an hour to get through. It’s such a stressful and frustrating job sorting through it all. issues. They often give contradictory information.
I went back to Whittington Hospital for the NHS clapping. I took more photographs and delivered a few of the ones from last week. It was great to see and chat to the two elderly sisters in the block of apartments. They were delighted to have copies of their pictures. I left feeling happy I connected with them.
Week 10: May 25th – May 31st
Taking portraits of people in the streets has been interesting and rewarding. I had some great chats and almost everyone is happy to stop and chat.
We had a picnic with a friend at Hampstead Heath. It felt as though we were doing something extraordinary. Our first social gathering!
