Capturing a crisis

THEY are images that capture the unimaginable pain and the loneliness of lockdown, but they also tell a different story.

They remind us, said the Duchess of Cambridge, that we need each other “more than we had ever realised”.

The 100 photographs chosen as finalists for the Duchess’s Hold Still project, designed to show the national mood during the pandemic, are to be published in a book.

The glossy, hardback tome, Hold Still: A Portrait of Our Nation in 2020, will be published in May.

In an introduction to the book, the Duchess said she had wanted to use the power of photography to create a lasting record of the pandemic, to capture individual stories and significant moments for families and communities.

“When we look back at the Covid-19 pandemic in decades to come, we will think of the challenges we all faced – the loved ones we lost, the extended isolation from our families and friends and the strain placed on our key work

‘Although physically apart, these images remind us that we need each other more than we had ever realised’

ers,” she said. “But we will also remember the positives: the incredible acts of kindness, the helpers and heroes who emerged from all walks of life, and how together we adapted to a new normal.”

When the Duchess called upon Britons to capture life in lockdown last May, more than 31,000 submissions were received from people of all ages and backgrounds.

She said she was “thrilled” with the response, and with the help of a judging panel including Nicholas Cullinan, director of the National Portrait Gallery, and Ruth May, chief nursing officer for England, chose 100 of the most striking to form what she described as a “collective portrait of our nation”.

“From photographs of NHS staff caring for those battling the virus, to families sharing tender moments through closed windows, each of the images gave an insight into what others were going through during this unprecedented time,” the Duchess wrote in the introduction.

She added: “Although we were physically apart, these images remind us that, as families, communities and a nation we need each other more than we had ever realised.”

Proceeds from the book will be split between mental health charity Mind, and the National Portrait Gallery.

The Duchess of Cambridge’s Hold Still project, which showcases 100 photographs of life during the pandemic is to be published as a book, Hold Still: A Portrait of Our Nation in 2020 . In the foreword she says, “these images remind us that we need each other”.

BY MELANIE LOWIS Main, a girl falls asleep listening to a bedtime story from her grandmother on FaceTime; right, an NHS nurse, called Melanie, takes a rest; left, in an image that first appeared in Stella magazine, never without grandma, with this cut-out drawing of her

BY JOHANNAH CHURCHILL

BY LAURA MACEY