#SWLONDONSTAYSHOME
Being the daughter and sister of nurses, I felt helpless at the beginning of the pandemic – there wasn’t much I could do as a photographer and designer to help out the community through those early weeks. As the UK rallied around its heroic healthcare workers, I began to see photographers across the world taking action – raising money by photographing people at safe distances in the name of charity.
Southwest London Stays Home (#SWLondonStaysHome) was born.
The concept was simple: people living in southwest London (my home borough) booked a physically-distanced portrait session with me and I then rode to their house on my second-hand ratchety old bike bought off Gumtree for this project. She was affectionately called ‘Miss Rona’.
I would then stand a generous distance away (usually on the street or in the garden) to snap my subjects while having a chat, then sent them the digital files.
While I offered the sessions for free, I encouraged those I photographed to donate to Critical NHS, a local grassroots community group that made making food deliveries to help feed the critical care nurses and other front-line staff and by doing so, kept restaurants and catering businesses going during deep lockdown.
At first, I was worried that my project might give people the wrong idea – would they be too scared of letting me photograph them?
Luckily, everyone was more than happy to get on board! It made me feel wonderful as it gave me a purpose and something to do that was productive during lockdown.
Across three months, I photographed 170 doorsteps, raising over £5000 for Critical NHS.
For those in the photos, I hope it made their days a little bit different and that they now have something with which to look back on this time fondly.
I hope that people still continue to appreciate the small things and really take stock of what they are grateful for. For most of those who I photographed, one of the things they are most grateful for was their homes and this is why it was so lovely to photograph them on their doorsteps or out their windows.
I also really hope that people stay tuned into their local communities. For me, this was one of the best silver linings out of all this. I got to know my neighbours and now when I walk around my local park, I sometimes run into people I have photographed!
Who knew you could make London feel like a village!
Fun Fact
One of favourite #SWLondonStaysHome photos was handpicked by the Duchess of Cambridge for the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery 🤯😍
This video tells the story of #SWLondonStaysHome series, my portrait series of you on your doorstep or out your window, which was taken to raise money for the amazing work Critical NHS do around SW London.
Please consider donating to Critical NHS. Thank you to Young Creators UK for filming this!