Lockdown photo wins recognition in international competition | Wallington photographer
Sainsbury’s Wallington, 4th April 2020
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, I rarely took my camera with me to the supermarket, and if I did, it was to get a shot of one of my girls enjoying a trolley ride, or picking out their favourite foods. Sometimes you can get really great reflections from the big windows in supermarkets.
Last month, after two weeks of self isolation, and with no delivery slots available, I was forced to head out to my local supermarket. I actually felt quite nervous, like the first time you go out of the house with a newborn baby. I didn’t really know what to expect, but I knew it would be different, and that I had to take my camera.
Under normal circumstances, I would have grabbed my shopping bags, casually pulled out a trolley, and waltzed on into the supermarket, never questioning whether they’d have the staples on my list. Instead, I was ushered into a theme-park like queue that snaked its way around the entire perimeter of the car park. Surreal, scary, and peaceful all at the same time is the only way I can describe the scene. Everyone was conscientiously keeping social distance - it was so orderly - and yet so other-worldly.
I have to admit, the photographer in me was immediately excited by the prospect of documenting this strange scene, one that I would never have dreamt of just a few weeks beforehand. I started self-consciously snapping away, not wanting to draw too much attention, or miss the cue to move along another two metres.
And then I saw the upside-down trolleys.
I was desperate to break free from the queue so I could try different angles, different perspectives, get close up, get further away. I tend to move a lot when I take photos. Instead, I stayed in line, kept my distance and patiently hoped that ‘the shot’ would present itself to me. And then I saw it, three upside down trolleys in the foreground, shoppers with masks in the background stood two metres apart. This was it - the best I was going to get. The elements said so much to me about how the virus had turned this seemingly ordinary activity well, upside-down.
Inner Outlook Project
I’m obviously not the only photographer who feels compelled to capture this new reality, who is desperate to still create and add their stories to an historical visual archive. I happened to submit this photo to Inner Outlook - a world-wide project sponsored by BOOM and Manfrotto, calling photographers to enter images documenting the stories, people, places and emotions this situation has created.
“While locked-down in our homes, we still believe that creativity can travel and spread more than a virus. We want to prove this to the world, so, together, here’s a call of duty that goes beyond any boundaries or barriers, to capture the untold stories that this situation has created.”
I received an email this week informing me that my picture was voted amongst the top ten from hundreds of other entries from around the world. The photo will be on the social media channels of BOOM and Manfrotto, as well as being circulated across international media.
When I go to the supermarket now, social distancing is just part of the ‘new normal’, and so not something I’d probably feel the need to document again. But I’m so proud that my photograph will now form part of a historical record of this time and represent my little corner of the world, to the world.
UPDATE JUNE 2020 - I just found out that my trolleys have also made it into Historic England’s Picturing Lockdown Collection.
Stay safe all!