This month, rather than a single image from one of our members, EPUK invited contributions for July from those who have been creating work over the past three months despite quarantine lockdown around the world due to the COVID-19 crisis. This Showcase is a small selection of the breadth of members' work and a testament to the tenacity of photographers - who will continue to document the world whatever the restrictions.
Nathan Cox: Lockdown 2020: Lockdown has been especially tough on teenagers, my son has particularly found it tough in this new strange world. Nathan Cox is a photographer and tutor, mainly working in education and currently completing an MA in Photography at UCLAN.
Paul Raftery: The remains of one of the main teaching operating theatres in the old Royal London hospital, Whitechapel. Part of a longterm commission to shoot the transformation of the old hospital into the new Tower Hamlets Town Hall. Shot June 2020 in full PPE and wearing a surgical mask. Paul Raftery is an architectural photographer and filmmaker who shoots the built environment around the world.
Eileen Langsley: This is the life! Spring lambs enjoy the April sunshine, Calver, Derbyshire 2020. Eileen Langsley is know for shooting sport for well over 40 years, now but during the last three years she has been creating an archive of images from a couple of farms local to her Derbyshire home. During lockdown the farmers were sheep shearing within walking distance of her home so she could get there easily and shoot at a safe distance.
Milton Haworth: Ellie Park sets off to deliver afternoon teas to folks in the outlying villages in the South Lakes area. Ellie from Ulverston, Cumbria hit on the idea when she read about many of the older people being trapped in their homes by the Corona Virus on VE day. “All in all, I have made 26 afternoon teas which I will be delivering to some of the villages.” said the 21 yr old who works at traditional retro Old Hall Farm. “I felt it was a shame they couldn’t join in the celebrations which mean so much to many of them.” June 2020. Milton Haworth is a press and editorial photographer currently based in the Lake District.
Julian Eales: Members of the Willingham Bowls Club take part in a roll up on the local green as lockdown from the Covid 19 quarantine is lifted and rules allow the start of some outdoor sports. Competitive matches are still not allowed as lanes are left unoccupied to allow for social distancing. Willingham Cambridgeshire UK 2nd June 2020. Julian Eales is a photographer currently based in Cambridgeshire.
Brian Harris: Residents in Thaxted, north Essex at the Thursday 8pm clap for NHS and essential workers 2nd April 2020. Brian Harris is a photographer currently based in Essex who worked for The Times (1976-1985) and The Independent (1986-1999)
Patrick Eden: Oxygen Generator. "My sister is at the top of the vulnerable list with regards to Covid 19. She has COPD, "Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease". The bottom half of this machine provides continuous flow oxygen, which helps keep her going. The Top half fills oxygen bottles, which fit in that back pack. This allows her now after lockdown to visit her beloved horses out at the stables where she keeps them and do some “Mucking out", which is keeping her fairly fit, in the circumstances. Thankfully she can isolate at home and isolate at the stables. She is like a little old astronaut, bless her. A real trooper." Patrick Eden has been a full time photographer since 1985. Sailing features highly in his portfolio due to his location in Cowes on the Isle of Wight, his birthplace. Patrick has also worked in India, the Caribbean and the US shooting a wide variety of assignments from editorial, sport and travel to advertising and aerial.
Nicola Morley: ‘Grandma’ is a story of lockdown. The photographer's once busy mother needs oxygen and eventually morphine. Isolating together in the country they live out these bittersweet days. Nicola Morley is a realist photographer. Her practice focuses on people, place and identity; the everyday, the mundane.
Duncan Lomax: A hospice nurse dons full protective PPE before starting a shift at St Leonard's Hospice in York, 2020. One of a series of front-line portraits which can be seen in full here. Duncan Lomax is a commercial photographer based in York where he runs Ravage Productions. Although working primarily for corporate clients ranging from large corporates to individuals, his work features regularly in business magazines, tourism brochures and in numerous national and regional newspapers.
Phil Crean: Tenerife, deserted, 30th April 2020. Tourist beach Playa del Duque, on the Costa Adeje coast deserted. With zero tourism and the beaches closed to all during the Covid 19, coronavirus, State of Emergency imposed by the government there is nobody about. Costa Adeje, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. "Tenerife, where I am based, was closed to tourism during the State of Emergency declared by the Spanish government. We were all confined to our homes except for essential trips out, ie: to buy food, medical reasons, or to assist vulnerable family/friends. After 40 days of this confinement I got authorisation to go out and photograph in the deserted tourist area of Costa Adeje. The resulting photographs are of a coastal region which is normally full of holiday makers. However I was walking through a zone that felt like a scene from a sci fi movie where all the people had disappeared and I was the only one left behind! Very eerie! This has become a long term project which I have followed through the de-escalation phases and now into the reopening of the island to tourism." Phil Crean completed a Diploma in photojournalism at LCP in the mid '80s and has been working in a variety of ways since then; initially in London freelancing for various magazines, shooting editorial portraiture, reportage and documentary. Since leaving London in 1994 he has been shooting landscape, travel, personal projects, and social events.
Joanne Coates: Hidden and homelessness during a pandemic. From Coates' photo essay looking at the ‘hidden’ crisis of rural homelessness. An unexpected story of hope during a global crisis and a focus on the problem of those who are forgotten when a pandemic strikes. "Pete says this really has saved his life. He had just come out of a bad relationship. He became homeless as he didn't have anywhere to go. The feeling of having his own room and space has helped him to heal." Americana themed log cabins built in the 1970s and recently refurbished, nestle in the heart of tranquility and provide a different narrative on homelessness, offering a safe space to social distance, where each resident has their own cabin. The male residents have laundry facilities, a fridge, a tv and heating. There are still problems, for many of the men it is hard to adjust to this very different lifestyle and the worry of what will happen next hangs over them. There is a very real possibility of large numbers of people becoming homeless as a result of a loss of income during the coronavirus crisis. Lord Bird, Big Issue founder said; "We cannot allow the streets to return to where they were pre-Covid-19. Joanne Coates is a working class documentary storyteller who uses the medium of photography. Based in the North of England, she is interested in modes of production, rurality, working life and class inequality. Her practice is as much about process, participation and working with communities.
Jeremy Hilder: Queens Road, New Cross Gate, London 26 April 2020. "I stumbled upon this wonderfully COVID moment at the bottom of my road during a Sunday family cycle ride on Day 34 of lockdown. Queens Road, which is normally thronging with traffic, was completely quiet. During these strange times, everyone was seeking solace wherever they could find it, and this scene summed it up perfectly for me." Jeremy Hilder is a London-based photographer specialising in portraiture.
Homer Sykes: My back garden, 51 Buckleigh Ave, London during Lockdown due to COVID 19 June 6 2020. "Published on FaceBook I wrote, "Well, summer's been and done, the Med heat has gone where it usually is; France, Italy, Spain, you know where we used to go on holiday when we needed a bit of sun. It's raining again. However my suburban back garden loves it." Forced to stay at home as I did 99% of the time, gave me time to enjoy a rose-filled garden." Homer Sykes is an award-winning magazine and documentary photographer based in London.
Prodeepta Das: Reading to granddaughter in Lockdown time, 2020 Prodeepta Das is a self taught photographer who came to photography through teaching. His main interests in photography are education and social justice. "I have photographed for a number of children's books including I IS FOR INDIA, which I also wrote and J IS FOR JAMAICA, for which Benjamin Zephaniah wrote the poems. My corporate clients include Tate & Lyle and Tata Steel; Save the Children, Help Age International, UNICEF, FAO and DFID have assigned me for social documentaries."
See more work by EPUK Showcases
