Historic England launches isolation photography project

People across the UK are being asked to share images of what everyday life is like in lockdown to ‘record history’ for future generations.

Historic England is encouraging the British public to contribute to a national collection of images in what’s being referred to as ‘a unique time capsule for the future.’

Aiming to show coming generations what everyday life has been like since lockdown began and how people are dealing with self-isolation and social distancing, the week-long project was launched on Wednesday and will run until May 5.

Ten artists and photographers have also been asked to participate and will be producing ‘special images’ to be featured alongside the general submissions. Malaika Kegode is one of them, her work an exploration of how we can find beauty and hope in darkness.

‘The project is a chance to record history,’ says director of regions, Claudia Kenyatta. ‘During one of the most extraordinary moments in living memory, 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.’

Amidst these challenging times which are allowing us all to pause and contemplate how we interact with our surroundings, Kenyatta is hoping to inspire creativity and reflection.

The final selection of photographs will include the most ‘informative, evocative, and inspiring,’ images sent in by the public, as well as the 50 works by contemporary artists due to be catalogued and later available online.

It’s the first time in history that the public has been involved with contributing to an archive containing over twelve million photographs that have been taken since the 1930s when Mass Observation began collection accounts of everyday life during wartime.

From gatherings across balconies, to rainbows in windows, anything can be shared via social media using #PicturingLockdown or on the Historic England website.