A Ruddington based photographer has launched a unique doorstep project which aims to capture the community spirit of our village during the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic.
‘Portraits Of This Time: Faces of Lockdown’ is an expanding portfolio of images taken by Peter McConnochie (pictured above on his own doorstep), who’s known professionally as Urban Scot Photography. He has already begun documenting these unprecedented times along the numerous residential streets of our substantial South Nottinghamshire village.
“When the lockdown measures were introduced I was unable to get out and create street portraits or pursue other creative activities and I didn’t know quite how to capture this time period with my camera at first” admits Peter. “The daily exercise restricted me from pursuing street photography in the city, which would have been my first instinct. So I decided to turn the restriction into this project and use my evening walk to photograph people where they are during the lockdown and find out a little about how they are coping or the impact of this time on their lives.”
An appeal to residents via social media resulted in a pleasing number of willing subjects – who could become part of this pictorial enterprise whilst, at the same time, stay safe at home. “Photographing people for this project around the village each evening as I walk from my house in different directions around Ruddington has highlighted the sense of community and support we have within the village and reinforced how individuals, couples and families pull together” says Peter.
In fact, since starting his walks around two weeks ago, Peter has already snapped over 60 individuals or family groups at their properties – usually doing two or three each evening. And it costs the householders absolutely nothing: “It is a personal project and I am grateful for people allowing me to photograph them and use the images. Everyone involved can download their own photograph for free from my web gallery and use it as they wish.”
Peter is hoping many more Ruddingtonians will now get in touch: “So long as we continue to be in a lockdown situation I would welcome other people in the village being involved in the project. It is a fantastic opportunity to capture this unique moment in time.”
There are plenty more Ruddington photos like this at www.urbanscot.co.uk/Lockdown2020.
The gallery will remain on Peter’s website as a reminder of what will become a notable, historic period for our village. At the moment, however, there are no further plans for it: “A few people have suggested that we produce a book of the images to create something physical that people in the village could have to remember this time. Others have suggested we have a small exhibition when we are able to socialise again. I am not sure how the project will develop. At the moment I am just enjoying meeting the people in the community and creating a photographic documentation of the experience” says Peter.
To get your Ruddington household involved, you can email Peter with your name, address and availability via peter@urbanscot.co.uk or message him at instagram.com/urbanscot.
