Shadows in the time of Covid-19

I’ve now been working from home for over 3 weeks. I’m very lucky that I have a secure and interesting job that I can mostly do from the safety of home, that I have a supportive employer who is keeping us well informed throughout these unprecedented times, and a happy home life to fill my non-work hours. However, like everyone, I am finding these difficult and challenging days, filled with bursts of anxiety about the future, where my world has suddenly shrunk to a small flat and a daily walk. I realise quite how much of my spare time is spent in museums and galleries (no surprise to readers of this blog), a physical experience that no virtual tour can really quite replicate.

However, it’s been remarkably good weather over the past few weeks, and that has meant lots of sunshine for making shadows. A positive of being isolated to home and a short walking distance from there has meant we’ve discovered green areas that we had never previously explored, and moments of shadows in and around the flat that I’m never normally around at the right time to capture. Creative people all over the world are finding moments of quiet observation and creativity a solace against the impacts of the pandemic and our necessary isolation. I’ve been sent poems by friends of friends, the people behind 64 Million Artists ran a #CreatetoConnect daily creative challenge, artists are photographing their neighbours through doors and windows, one contemporary art museum collective is commissioning artists to make interventions on their balconies.

There are a whole host of impressive artistic responses to our extraordinary times. I’ve been keeping a working list, and plan to share some that have really struck me in a future post. But for now, I’ve been enjoying the number of new shadows that have been bringing quiet enjoyment to my days and wanted to share them with you … I’ll add more as lockdown continues. 

Lots of wonderful people on Twitter have also been spotting and sharing shadows from their new daily routines with 'my' hashtag #MuseumofShadows. As usual I’ve been capturing these in my online exhibition. Do take a look at the recent additions and send your own.