COVID CROSSROADS
I primarily photograph people on the streets in black and white, and so this project is really quite a departure for me, spawned entirely by the pandemic.
Prior to the Lockdown I was out shooting the streets of Liverpool virtually every day of the week, but as it came to an end I was initially somewhat hesitant about returning to the streets to photograph people. Not only was I anxious about needlessly interacting with other members of the public at a time when caution was still vital, but to be honest with you I felt somewhat out of practice - I would argue that taking pictures is a little like playing a musical instrument, you must keep at it or else your 'eye' begins to wane.
Unlike other street photographers I had not gone out and documented the empty streets of our major cities, and so instead as the country began to open up again I sought out a subject that could almost echo the sentiment of these extraordinary times. Having worked in the NHS for the entirety of the pandemic I had acquired a lot of leave time which was spent in my hometown of Southampton, where after a few days of searching I found my subject in the abandoned shops on Old Northam Road.
I primarily photograph people on the streets in black and white, and so this project is really quite a departure for me, spawned entirely by the pandemic.
Prior to the Lockdown I was out shooting the streets of Liverpool virtually every day of the week, but as it came to an end I was initially somewhat hesitant about returning to the streets to photograph people. Not only was I anxious about needlessly interacting with other members of the public at a time when caution was still vital, but to be honest with you I felt somewhat out of practice - I would argue that taking pictures is a little like playing a musical instrument, you must keep at it or else your 'eye' begins to wane.
Unlike other street photographers I had not gone out and documented the empty streets of our major cities, and so instead as the country began to open up again I sought out a subject that could almost echo the sentiment of these extraordinary times. Having worked in the NHS for the entirety of the pandemic I had acquired a lot of leave time which was spent in my hometown of Southampton, where after a few days of searching I found my subject in the abandoned shops on Old Northam Road.
I primarily photograph people on the streets in black and white, and so this project is really quite a departure for me, spawned entirely by the pandemic.
Prior to the Lockdown I was out shooting the streets of Liverpool virtually every day of the week, but as it came to an end I was initially somewhat hesitant about returning to the streets to photograph people. Not only was I anxious about needlessly interacting with other members of the public at a time when caution was still vital, but to be honest with you I felt somewhat out of practice - I would argue that taking pictures is a little like playing a musical instrument, you must keep at it or else your 'eye' begins to wane.
Unlike other street photographers I had not gone out and documented the empty streets of our major cities, and so instead as the country began to open up again I sought out a subject that could almost echo the sentiment of these extraordinary times. Having worked in the NHS for the entirety of the pandemic I had acquired a lot of leave time which was spent in my hometown of Southampton, where after a few days of searching I found my subject in the abandoned shops on Old Northam Road.
I primarily photograph people on the streets in black and white, and so this project is really quite a departure for me, spawned entirely by the pandemic.
Prior to the Lockdown I was out shooting the streets of Liverpool virtually every day of the week, but as it came to an end I was initially somewhat hesitant about returning to the streets to photograph people. Not only was I anxious about needlessly interacting with other members of the public at a time when caution was still vital, but to be honest with you I felt somewhat out of practice - I would argue that taking pictures is a little like playing a musical instrument, you must keep at it or else your 'eye' begins to wane.
Unlike other street photographers I had not gone out and documented the empty streets of our major cities, and so instead as the country began to open up again I sought out a subject that could almost echo the sentiment of these extraordinary times. Having worked in the NHS for the entirety of the pandemic I had acquired a lot of leave time which was spent in my hometown of Southampton, where after a few days of searching I found my subject in the abandoned shops on Old Northam Road.