58 images Created 14 Jul 2021
These Days Will Pass
On 31 January 2020 the first confirmed UK case of coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, was recorded in York, Yorkshire. What had begun as a mysterious illness in a remote part of China, and had then travelled to Europe, had arrived in Great Britain.
Throughout February as the virus spread the politicians were slow to react. Despite increasing alarm from medical professionals this new illness was treated as simply a flu variant. In Reading on 5 March COVID claimed its first victim in Britain. It was only as a sense of panic began to sweep the population, with supermarket shelves swept bare in mid March, that the government began to act with alacrity.
On 23 March under the slogan "Stay home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives” the entire UK went into lockdown. The government imposed a stay-at-home order banning all non-essential travel and contact with other people, and shut almost all schools, businesses and gathering places. Police were empowered to enforce the measures, and the Coronavirus Act 2020 brought in emergency powers not used since the Second World War.
But the enforcement powers were largely not required. With the Prime Minister himself hospitalised, government advisors and MPs yet to be caught breaking their own instructions and a rapidly mounting death rate, most people needed little encouragement to isolate. Faced with a threat the like of which they had never known, the population largely obeyed the new rules and stayed home. High streets fell silent and shopping malls closed their doors. Airports were deserted; railway stations vacant as trains ran empty. City traffic jams disappeared and motorways lay abandoned.
These photographs were all taken in England at the height of the lockdown in April and May, at times and locations that would normally be crowded. The title is from a series of artworks by Mark Titchner that I came across at various locations.
Throughout February as the virus spread the politicians were slow to react. Despite increasing alarm from medical professionals this new illness was treated as simply a flu variant. In Reading on 5 March COVID claimed its first victim in Britain. It was only as a sense of panic began to sweep the population, with supermarket shelves swept bare in mid March, that the government began to act with alacrity.
On 23 March under the slogan "Stay home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives” the entire UK went into lockdown. The government imposed a stay-at-home order banning all non-essential travel and contact with other people, and shut almost all schools, businesses and gathering places. Police were empowered to enforce the measures, and the Coronavirus Act 2020 brought in emergency powers not used since the Second World War.
But the enforcement powers were largely not required. With the Prime Minister himself hospitalised, government advisors and MPs yet to be caught breaking their own instructions and a rapidly mounting death rate, most people needed little encouragement to isolate. Faced with a threat the like of which they had never known, the population largely obeyed the new rules and stayed home. High streets fell silent and shopping malls closed their doors. Airports were deserted; railway stations vacant as trains ran empty. City traffic jams disappeared and motorways lay abandoned.
These photographs were all taken in England at the height of the lockdown in April and May, at times and locations that would normally be crowded. The title is from a series of artworks by Mark Titchner that I came across at various locations.
