Plans to capture life’s unfolding ‘new normal’ on camera
Young photographer Emily Ryalls is launching a new project to capture life in Wakefield as lockdown restrictions lift and people adjust to a ‘new normal’.
THERE’S A new project on the horizon for young photographer Emily Ryalls. As lockdown restrictions continue to be lifted, the 22-year-old has been awarded funding from Wakefield Council to document life in a changing world.
Emily is inviting people aged 16-25 in the Wakefield district to participate in the project titled Our Diary. Together, the collective will produce a photozine capturing life during lockdown from their perspective and exploring how people are adjusting to a ‘new normal’.
Emily hopes the project will document life in the city as people begin to interact and engage with wider society again, as high street businesses, schools and workplaces reopen their doors.
“Some people [taking part] will already have taken photographs during the lockdown we’ve experienced so far so I think we’ll use some of those,” she says. “But we will also be documenting this in between period we are living in now, with a relaxed lockdown where we still aren’t yet in normality. It’s important to capture this changing time.
“Some of the group may be returning to college or workplaces so I’m going to encourage everyone to take photos to show things like the layout of classrooms and offices and the signs and stickers telling people what to do and not to do.”
Emily plans to make the photozine free to order for anyone who wants it, as well as placing a copy in a museums and libraries across the district, so it can act as an archival document of this period. “Photography has never been as well used as it is at the minute which is great to see. It’s inspiring,” she says.
“The amount of people who wouldn’t normally be interested that are taking images to document what’s going on is great. Nearly everyone has a camera phone and so many people are engaging with photography.
“Although we are all living this, everyone is in different situations. Some will be really feeling the confinement, some are shielding really intensely. It’s really important that we have this document not just of this time but of the lives of a variety of people and of how the community comes back together as well. I think that will be really interesting.”
Emily has been documenting, through photographs, her own experience of life during the pandemic. Images she has captured so far include her dropping off food to her shielding parents, empty streets, and lockdown hair cuts.
For the project as a whole, she wants to see a strong sense of Wakefield in the images. “It’s about capturing the lives of people who participate, the people around them, the community and Wakefield as a district,” she says.
“It’s going to act as a creative publication but also as an archival document for Wakefield. It’s going to be nice to have that especially through the eyes of this age group, which can sometimes be overlooked.”
She also hopes the project will have a lasting impact by creating a network of young creative people in the district.
She returned to Wakefield after completing her degree in photography in Nottingham last year, her final project exploring women’s healthcare across the globe, particularly in relation to the HPV vaccination.
“Since I returned to Wakefield after university, I’ve been committed to tackling the fact that there aren’t a great deal of young artists on Wakefield’s art scene. I have felt the barriers of trying to break into it as a young person,” she says. “Whilst this project is short term, I want it to be the start of making enough noise and getting a community of young people together who want to create more photography resources and exhibitions.”
Email ourdiaryproject2020@gmail. com by June 21 to express interest.