When COVID-19 first reached Europe and the lockdown began to tighten in the UK, I was shocked to see scenes of empty supermarket shelves and people panic buying. I heard that food banks – which are already strapped for vital supplies – were really struggling and I wanted to do something to help. So a group of friends and I started a print sale, with support from whynow, to bring the photo community together and support a good cause.
After putting out an open call with the theme of ‘Hope’, we received over 100 submissions from around the world. Here, we’ll be showcasing a selection of photographers who took part in the initiative, and sharing their personal reasons for hope.
ArrayHarry Truman
Can you introduce yourself and tell us about your work and previous projects?
My main work day-to-day is making documentary films for TV. On the side I like taking photos. I’m drawn to how photojournalists can tell whole stories in a few images. It’s the brevity, and supposed simplicity that I find really appealing. This photo was taken during a difficult time in my life. I was studying for a Masters, and halfway through the academic year my father passed away. Being in the city was hard – in times like that your world stops, so seeing everyone else going about like normal makes you feel very alone. So I got out. I went up to Scotland, where a friend – a movie location scout at the time – directed me towards some of the remotest parts of the highlands.
Why does your photo represent hope?
One night on that trip, when staying in a village up near Cape Wrath, a groundskeeper asked about the photos, and I showed him this one on the back of my camera. He said that “the outer trees are always the strongest. They brace against the wind and cold, protecting the inner ones. But, once in a while, a storm will come that even they cannot stand.”
The protection that had lasted over a hundred years is suddenly gone, and the remaining trees are left to face the elements
“The protection that had lasted over a hundred years is suddenly gone, and the remaining trees are left to face the elements, with nothing left to shield them. It then becomes a race for the weaker trees to bolster and strengthen, before the next storm comes in. But this is hard to do, and the persistent weather can overpower them. More often than not, when the outer trees fall, the whole forest falls.” It really stuck with me, and I still think about it often.
How are you staying positive during lockdown?
Lockdown is reminding me of that pressure to be creative. You can start to worry that you’re not doing enough; you’ve got all this time and little to show for it, and you think everyone else is out making portfolios of great work. I just don’t think that’s true. For me, staying positive in lockdown is about taking care of myself and the people around me, and planning for the projects of the future.
ArrayHugh Kinsella Cunningham
Can you introduce yourself and tell us about your work and previous projects?
I’m a photojournalist based between London and Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, working mostly on health and crisis reporting. I take on assignment work for organisations such as the United Nations and Save the Children and have covered stories ranging from tropical snakebites to maternal health for refugee mothers.
Last year I spent several months in the ongoing North Kivu Ebola outbreak and I’m always working towards new approaches to critical stories.
Rescued baby chimps are brought to a sanctuary where they’re encouraged to form new bonds to overcome this trauma
Why does your photo represent hope?
As context for this photo, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, poachers will shoot family groups of Chimpanzees for the bushmeat trade, capturing the young alive for sale as pets. Rescued baby chimps are brought to a sanctuary where they’re encouraged to form new bonds to overcome this trauma, a programme that gives me hope that conservation will always be possible – even in extreme contexts.
How are you staying positive during lockdown?
I was lucky enough to make it back to the UK to be with my family just after countries and borders began to seal, and that’s my source of happiness at the moment. It’s also comforting having spent much time working on previous stories with health workers, and knowing those working on medical emergencies are the most dedicated and courageous people imaginable.
www.hughcunninghamphotography.com
ArrayChanel Irvine
Can you introduce yourself and tell us about your work and previous projects?
I’m a documentary photographer based in Kent. My practice seeks to portray the power of human initiative, connection and contribution, and to reflect the tension between preservation and change. I’m inspired by constructive, solution-based journalism. Some of my previous work has focused on livelihoods, environments and communities that are susceptible to change based on emerging trends and the development demands that inevitably accompany our increasingly modern society.
As I’m passionate about sustainability, I’m particularly interested in the people and organisations who are working to make a positive environmental and social impact in their communities. My previous projects have ranged from documenting farming families in northern Iceland, the ‘English Summer’ of 2019 that marked three years after the Brexit referendum and the aftermath of the recent and devastating Australian bushfires, where my photograph was taken.
I find the steady gaze of the elderly couple, out onto the dry land, symbolic of us all looking forward to a restored, improved world
Why does your photo represent hope?
This photograph was taken at the National Arboretum in Canberra, Australia, which was created as a gift to the city after the area was burned out as a result of the Christmas 2001 and 2003 Canberra bushfires. Part of the intent was to symbolise the local community’s process of healing and recovery from the upheaval and grief of the catastrophic fires. This photograph was taken in January 2020, in the midst of the devastating bushfires that ravaged through the country since September of 2019. At the time, Canberra was under a severe threat warning. The image represents hope, as I find the steady gaze of the elderly couple, out onto the dry land, symbolic of us all looking forward to a restored, improved world after the COVID-19 crisis.
How are you staying positive during lockdown?
A piece of advice that I believe applies to almost any situation, and has been the most helpful during this strange and confronting time, is to take every day one at a time. Reminding myself to do this, staying focused on all the small things that we are still at liberty (and privileged) to enjoy, as well as actively practicing gratitude, is keeping me positive. I’m attempting to take as many photographs as I can, to document this time in what will hopefully be an uplifting way. Photography never fails to enrich my days and break up the monotony of the lockdown lifestyle, as I’m forced to focus on small, ordinary details and find artistic inspiration there.
ArrayAnastasia Orlando
Can you introduce yourself and tell us about your work and previous projects?
I’m Anastasia, I live in London and work in shoot production in advertising. I paint and do photography outside of this. I love shooting portraits as people’s stories and differences and characteristics are constantly fascinating. I love the feeling when I’ve gained someone’s trust enough that they feel really relaxed with me and love the picture I’ve taken of them. This picture is more unusual for me as there’s no one in it.
Why does your photo represent hope?
I came across this space on Holbox in Mexico when I was out walking one morning. It was around 7am or maybe earlier and there was hardly anyone up yet. I loved the colour palette: the pink and soft blue and the imperfections in the floor and walls. It makes me think of the Leonard Cohen lyrics: “there is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.” It’s so true, nothing is perfect and that’s okay. That’s hope.
It makes me think of the Leonard Cohen lyrics: ‘there is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in’
How are you staying positive during lockdown?
It’s been an interesting time, and not without challenges. Work hasn’t been happening in my industry – self-care in the form of routine and structure have been very important. To me, that means yoga, early park runs when it’s cool and quiet outside, meditation and a lot of gratitude.
It’s been very surreal but pleasant to have everything slow down – especially somewhere as normally hectic as London. Everyone I love is thankfully healthy, with food on the table and a roof over their heads. It’s been great to be part of this print sale to help in any way. It’s also been amazing to see how much has been going on in terms of helping each other and building our communities – people showing a little bit more humanity. Let’s keep it going.
All prints available to buy now from printsforfood.com until 31 May, with all profits going directly to The Trussell Trust, a charity with a nationwide network of more than 1,200 food banks.
View ‘Photographers in Support of UK Food Banks, Part 1’ here.
View ‘Photographers in Support of UK Food Banks, Part 2’ here.
