In the midst of COVID-19, photographers around the world are having to navigate the unknown and find novel ways to work and document events as they play out.
Alex Ingram’s uplifting series of portraits, captured through windows in the city of St Davids, shows how the community are remaining positive and connected during the ongoing lockdown.
Alex, can you introduce yourself and tell us how COVID-19 has impacted your work and daily life?
I’m a freelance photographer based in London; my work primarily focuses on people’s relationships and interactions with the world around them. As a photographer whose work almost solely involves people me interacting with people, finding myself in the middle of a worldwide pandemic, where you’re only allowed outside your home for one form of exercise a day, and must maintain a 2m distance from everyone, has meant that it was almost impossible for me to continue working. Covid-19 hit the UK at such a rapid pace, and felt like it sprung out of nowhere. Overnight all my work stopped, and I had 12 pretty big jobs cancel on me within a three-day period.
Of course, I am not the only person for this to happen to. The impact of this outbreak will be felt for years to come, and the knock-on effect that it will have on the creative industry will be massive. But if I look at the future with a more optimistic viewpoint, this may be a revival, where society becomes closer, and everyone works together to create a better future. Clients will look at new and creative ways of advertising, and everyone will be ready and raring to get going again as soon as this is all over. It will be tough to begin with, but I truly believe that if you work hard and keep creating, that you will be able to get through it and flourish on the other side.
If I look at the future with a more optimistic viewpoint, this may be a revival, where society becomes closer
How did the idea for your project ‘Inside Out’ originate?
A few days before Boris Johnson put the entire UK on lockdown, my fiancé and I decided to escape the mayhem of London and head back to my parents’ home in St Davids, in rural Pembrokeshire. St Davids is the UK’s smallest city. With a population of around 1,800, it’s a far cry from the London metropolis that I’d gotten used to.
I’m one of those people who can’t sit around doing nothing. Being in lockdown means I have to find new ways of being creative and keeping my mind entertained, whether that’s decorating my flat, power-washing my parents’ house, or shooting a new project – I have to do something!
The project really came about by chance and experimenting whilst out on my daily walk around St Davids. Every day, me and my parents would do our daily walk, and I could see people sitting in their homes through their front windows. It’s such a surreal period we’re all living in at the moment, and as a photojournalist I thought I needed to find some way of documenting this, outside of just photographing empty streets.
Instead of shooting a project that shows the worst of the current situation, I wanted to shoot a project that can highlight something positive and show that, despite everything that is going on in the world, people still have hope and high spirits. I wanted to explore this connection between the people of St Davids and their community, and how this connection and friendship can still be there even through a pane of glass.
I wanted to shoot a project that can highlight something positive and show that, despite everything that is going on in the world, people still have hope and high spirits
What’s the process behind each shoot? Do you put out an open call for people to have their portrait taken, or are these mostly people you know?
A bit of a mixture really! Shooting a project in a place that I grew up in was definitely a massive help. I start so many projects that fail, purely because getting access to subjects to begin with is always the most challenging part. Because I grew up in St Davids I already had a cohort of friends I knew I could first reach out to, in order to experiment with the idea and figure out how I wanted to approach it.
After the first couple of portraits, I put a call out on Facebook to see if anyone would be interested in partaking in the project, and was inundated with people getting in touch and volunteering. I then began narrowing down the people by location, so that I could make the most of my time and visit several people, one street at a time.
This is an ongoing and ever-growing project. When this is all over, I want to have a record of the people of St Davids that were here during this period of time, and see them and their faces through the glass.
When this is all over, I want to have a record of the people of St Davids that were here during this period of time
Are there any unique challenges to shooting portraits through windows? (I can imagine there are quite a few!)
Without doubt, the biggest challenge was trying to figure out a way of minimising reflections on the glass so that I could actually see the person I was photographing. I’ve seen a couple of other similar projects of people shot through windows where the subjects are almost completely obscured by the reflections of the world outside.
This may be a creative decision, and I love seeing how different photographers approach the same subject in different ways, but for me, I’m interested in the people that are having to self-isolate indoors, and I thought it was really important to show them clearly.
Back in London, I have the ideal tool that would work perfectly to cut out reflections – a 6’x4’ California Sunbounce flag, but I left that behind when I came to Pembrokeshire. So instead, we had to improvise! Every few days, I would head out with my assistant (my dad), an old beer crate to stand on, and our makeshift version of the flag (an old black towel on a stick) and visit the people in the community who had volunteered to participate.
For 15 minutes the subjects would sit in their windows and I’d photograph them as they laughed at us trying to cut out reflections with such a ridiculous system. As daft as it looks, it seemed to work, and provided the subjects with some light entertainment during quite a repetitive time.
I’d photograph them as they laughed at us trying to cut out reflections with such a ridiculous system
What can you tell us about St Davids? Is the community still able to maintain its community spirit despite the social distancing measures?
I would say so, yeah! My parents live about a mile outside of St Davids in the middle of nowhere, so my only experiences of what things are like there now is during my walks. There’s still a community spirit for sure, with people helping out in whatever way they can. The real difference I’ve always noticed about living in St Davids, compared to London, is that people stop and talk to one another in St Davids, and this is still the case despite the government lockdown – people stop and talk, except now it’s from the other side of the street!
I think coronavirus has brought out the best in people, and it’s shown everyone just how much people actually care. Even in the middle of the countryside where it could be easy to feel completely isolated and alone, you can still hear the faint noise of the city clapping at 8pm every Thursday evening for the NHS and feel connected.
What’s your daily routine like now? How do you stay motivated?
A bit different to my normal life that’s for sure! I think it’s very easy to sit around and do nothing all day, but for me it’s really important to find something to do to keep your mind busy. I’m very lucky I was able to leave my tiny 1-bed flat in London and come to my parents’ house in Pembrokeshire where there is masses of space and no-one around.
I think coronavirus has brought out the best in people, and it’s shown everyone just how much people actually care
I’ve spent a lot of time in Pembrokeshire working in the garden, walking around the countryside surrounding my parents’ house and documenting the things I’ve done and encountered. Even if the images I create don’t seem like much to me right now, I know that in a few years’ time I’ll be able to look back on them and remember this unique period of time.
Finally, do you have any exciting projects planned for after lockdown ends?
Over the past 3 years I’ve been working on my ongoing project The Gatekeepers, which explores the lives of wardens living on the tiny, isolated islands surrounding the UK. I’ve been spending a week at a time in some of the most beautiful, yet inhospitable landscapes in the UK, documenting the lives of these wardens and experiencing firsthand what it’s like living in such unusual circumstances. When this is all over, I’m very excited to get back out there and continue working on the project, and visit some more of these incredible locations.
