Big emotions in little moments

In the third instalment in our series on 2020’s best photos from five Wellington visual journalists, we turn the lens back on Monique Ford.

Iguess we could start with this one – the elderly couple walking down the street in Kilbirnie during the alert level 4 lockdown.

It was pretty quiet and I really noticed this couple because there was literally nobody else on the street, and they were hobbling across the road really slowly. It just stuck out to me.

I think they’d been to the supermarket. They were walking down the street, armin arm, which is probably just an everyday occurrence, but when there is nobody else on the street and it’s lockdown, and we are all semi-emotional ... I guess we were all functioning really well, but scratch the surface and underneath that we were all a little bit tender. We all felt a bit edgy.

When I saw the couple, I took that photo because I thought it was so lovely.

It really broke me down a bit because it was showing love, support and care at a very basic and simplistic level. But it was also a really human, critical level.

It was like, ‘‘Oh my God, something simple canmean so much at this time.’’

They just get on with it, don’t make a fuss; they’re still out getting their shopping; they’re walking up the street. But they’re showing a bit of support – it’s down to earth.

I didn’t ask them if they were locals because I didn’t want to spoil the moment. It was also level 4, and I couldn’t get up close. But it wasn’t really about their names. That’s why I thought shooting that scene from behind wasmore appropriate, because it wasn’t even about them as people. It wasmore about just capturing that little moment.

It probably has more weight behind it because of the times we were in. That’s why I chose this selection of photos.

They’re not stunning images by any means, but they all tell a story. They’re little moments that had huge impact onme in a variety of ways. That moment in particular pulled on my heartstrings.