Historic England have revealed the 200 photographs of lockdown life which will be included in the nation’s archive following the Picturing Lockdown Competition launched in May.
The photographs range from impromptu haircuts to images of the empty capital, in an attempt to catch a glimpse of the impact of Covid-19 as it happens. Half of the collection comes from the general public, while the remainder were taken by professionals.
One of the commissioned artists, Polly Braden, chose to represent the outbreak through an image of the Square Mile stripped of its usual cohorts of tourists and commuters.
Braden, who took the photograph while on her state sanctioned exercise, said that: “It was just really amazing, like cycling on to a film set before the crew arrives.
“It was really eerie. I don’t think I’ve ever noticed how the new glass buildings fit with the old sandstone. You could see the lines right down to the ground because there are no people or cars.
“It was so quiet and clean and the buildings were standing taller and more prominent than I had ever noticed them before.”
Braden is no stranger to the Square Mile, having previously published a book of photographs of it. In more conventional times, over 450,000 people would commute there to work.
“At the start of May there was no one there, except for the occasional cleaner or homeless person or security guard. Hardly anyone. It was quite incredible and we are never going to see it like that again” Braden said.
All photographs selected will enter into the Historic England archive.
According to Claudia Kenyatta, director of regions at Historic England: “The fascinating response to our callout sheds light on our collective and individual experiences of lockdown and provides a snapshot into this unusual time that will be accessible for future generations to see and learn from.”
