Historic England launches lockdown photography project

[IlonaM]

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/may/01/historic-england-launches-coronavirus-lockdown-photography-project

'The British public is being invited to contribute to a national collection of photographs billed as a ?unique time capsule for the future?, which will show future generations what the Covid-19 lockdown was like for everyday people.

The week-long project, which was launched by Historic England on Wednesday and runs until Tuesday 5 May, encourages people to share images that reveal how they are dealing with lockdown, self-isolation and social distancing.

Ten artists, including Scottee, based in Southend on Sea, and photographers Chloe Dewe Mathews, based in St Leonards-on-Sea, and Coralie Datta, based in Leeds, have also been asked to participate and they will produce ?special images?. 100 of the submitted photographs and images will be inducted into the Historic England Archive.

Claudia Kenyatta, the director of regions at Historic England, said the project was a chance to ?record history? and ?create a unique time capsule for the future? during one of the most extraordinary moments in living memory.

She said: ?We want people to show us their experiences of lockdown, how places local to them have transformed, communities have come together, and life has changed for us all.

?These challenging times are encouraging us all to pause and reflect upon our relationship with our surroundings. We hope this project inspires creativity and reflection, allowing the public create a unique time capsule for the future.?

The final selection of images will be made up of 50 of the most ?evocative, informative and inspiring? images submitted by the public and 50 works from the contemporary artists, which will be catalogued by the Historic England Archive and be available online.

It is the first time the British public has been asked to contribute to the archive, which contains more than 12m photographs taken since 1939, when the social research organisation Mass Observation collected accounts of everyday life during wartime...'