#HoldStill2020
Annemarie Plas, founder of Clap For Our Carers, at the last clap
Hold Still 2020 is an incredible photo project that I am beyond honoured to be a part of.
Spearheaded by The Duchess of Cambridge, Patron of the National Portrait Gallery, Hold Still was an ambitious community project to create a unique collective portrait of the UK during the lockdown. People of all ages were invited to submit a photographic portrait, taken in a six-week period during May and June 2020, focusing on three core themes – Helpers and Heroes, Your New Normal, and Acts of Kindness. Over 31,000 submissions were received from across the country, with entrants ranging from 4 to 75 years-old. From these, a panel of judges selected 100 portraits, assessing the images on the emotions and experiences they conveyed.
And my photo is one of those 100 chosen for hold still!
The final 100 images present a unique and highly personal record of this extraordinary period in our history of people of all ages from across the nation. From virtual birthday parties, handmade rainbows, and community clapping to brave NHS staff, resilient keyworkers, and people dealing with illness, isolation, and loss. The images convey humour and grief, creativity and kindness, tragedy and hope – expressing and exploring both our shared and individual experiences.
The photo I submitted is above and my accompanying caption I entered with the photo is:
Annemarie Plas is both the founder of Clap for our Carers and a Dutch yoga teacher living in South London. Inspired by a similar initiative in her homeland, she instigated the weekly clap on a Thursday night at 8pm. It was to show appreciation for NHS workers and carers fighting the pandemic on the frontline. The clap occurred for 10 weeks and Annemarie was the proud face of the initiative. This photo was taken on the final official clap. Annemarie had mixed feelings about ending the clap but wanted it to go out on a high note before becoming politicised further. She told me her favourite part about the initiative was personally getting to know her neighbours, like many of us across the country. I photographed her as part of my charity doorstep photography series, #SWLondonStaysHome. Her doorstep just happened to be simultaneously broadcast across the nation on the BBC! Annemarie had a simple idea that took hold in the national consciousness during lockdown to show our appreciation for those risking their lives.
Go see the digital exhibition and see the photographs collectively (in no particular order) and then discover the fascinating stories behind the pictures through the words of the entrants themselves. You’ll find me at 79!
Watch the video announcing the final 100 images
Then there were the billboards!
The photographs were also on display across the UK in autumn 2020 as part of a special community exhibition, and shown in a digital exhibition in the grounds at the National Memorial Arboretum. The photographs featured on hundreds of posters and billboards up and down the country, including in the hometowns of many of the entrants. One of my billboards, seen below, was just around the corner from me! The exhibition was supported by the Co-op and a selection of the photographs could also be seen on community screens in Co-op food stores across the UK.
Me with my billboard!
This has been a crazy opportunity to be a part of and my work has been featured all over the world including on BBC News, in The Guardian and in Metro News. Plus I was interviewed by SW Londoner and HerCanberra.
The giant Hold Still billboard in Waterloo, London, featuring all 100 photos
And if that wasn’t enough, the project became a book!
Featuring an introduction from The Duchess of Cambridge, the Hold Still publication, supported by Co-op, includes the one hundred portraits selected for the Hold Still exhibition, creating a unique record of our shared and individual experiences during this extraordinary period of history. Each of the photographs is accompanied by the story behind the picture told through the words of the entrants, offering a highly personal perspective on this unprecedented time. The publication also includes photographs of the nationwide exhibition and a text by judge Lemn Sissay. The net proceeds from the sale of the book will be equally split to support the work of the National Portrait Gallery and Mind, the mental health charity.
You can buy the book on the National Portrait Gallery’s website. The book features my photo of Annemarie as well as my photo with my billboard. It is incredible to see and read all of the stories.
To celebrate the launch of the book, we teamed up with Book Fairies to hide a copy of the book somewhere that was special to us during lockdown.
I hid a free copy of Hold Still in Wandsworth Common. The Book Fairies and contributors to the collection are leaving books at places that gave them hope during the lockdown.
Wandsworth Common has truly been my happy place since the world turned upside down so as soon as I was asked to hide it somewhere special to me, I knew exactly where 🦆. It was found a few hours later by a wonderful lady called Harriet. I hope she treasures the book full of beautiful images from all around the UK, which reflect the experience of lockdown across many communities.
Me with the book before I hid it and the lucky finder Harriett (photo supplied by her!)
What happens now?
For now, that is the end of Hold Still. My photo will be kept in the National Portrait Gallery archives as a reminder of this time and I am so honoured to have captured part of the history of this time period. As one last final hurrah, I took pictures with my copy of the book at Piccadilly Circus.
Still can’t believe this happened!
*Some of these words are the offical words used by the National Portrait Gallery to explain the digital exhibition, physical billboard exhibition and the book.
