THE UPSIDE DOWN (2020-21)

"Looking back now, the early days of the first Lockdown in March 2020 were very surreal. My wife's work contract had abruptly finished and our kids (8 & 9yrs) school closed. Suddenly we were all at home together in our small house. The first week was pretty challenging, we had little understanding of what lockdown really meant or how long it would last. People were panic buying - the shelves were emptying. We began to realise the sobering gravity of the global pandemic. We slowly adjusted to the new ab-normal. Work had been replaced by our attempts at homeschooling, trips to the local supermarket were quick sombre affairs. In contrast to all this London was eerily quiet; you could hear the birds sing, feel nature breathe. Unusual for the time of year, we had months of beautiful sunlight. I hadn't taken any photos for months, the light pouring into our house in the morning and afternoon inspired me to pick up my Fuji X-T3. I photographed the way the light was landing on objects and surfaces around the house. Then I started photographing my family in quiet moments of contemplation, thought and bonding. This gave me a focus, a creative outlet, a distraction? I posted a batch of images on the gram each week - the routine felt good".

At the same time I was working on my KALEIDESCAPES RAVE ON Series. I tried the same Kaleidoscopic treatment with my lockdown photos. The title for this work comes from the Netflix series ‘Stranger Things’ in which there is a dark parallel universe called the ‘The Upside Down’ which my kids became obsessed with watching all three seasons three times.