Life Under Lockdown

From mid-March to mid-June 2020, I took a series of photographs of my neighbours in Isabella Road, where I have lived for 40 years, and the adjoining Mehetabel Road. I planned to repeat the exercise in 2024 but it seemed important to bring this forward in order to capture the historical significance of Life Under Lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic. I came up with the idea of asking people to be photographed with objects that had sustained them during the crisis but was unsure how this would work. There was something incongruous about the request, given the unfolding tragedy we were all experiencing. Despite this, most people responded enthusiastically. 

     The text, of which I include just a sample here, is based on interviews and written responses to a series of questions about how the lockdown affected people’s relationships to, and within, their home and neighbourhood; children’s and students’ education; people’s livelihood and home/work balance; leisure, health and wellbeing; attitudes to the government and its handling of the pandemic and, finally, people’s hopes and fears for the future not only for themselves but at a national and global level. 

           Neighbours who have contributed include people who have lived in the street for 80 years and those who moved in during lockdown; those who rent their houses privately, from the local council or housing association and those who own them; those who have lost their jobs or been furloughed; those who are used to working at home, those to whom this is a new experience and key workers on the front line. It includes people living on their own, in shared households or as families juggling home-schooling, work and housework.  

      The production of the book has been a collective effort with neighbours contributing artwork as well as assisting with the editing and photo enhancement. A special thanks go to Claudia Costa for her design of the book.

If you would like further information or to purchase a copy of the book, please email eithne.nightingale@icloud.com. 

All profits go to Hackney Migrant Centre and Hackney Giving.