Julia Fullerton-Batten

Looking Out from Within, 2020

Covid-19 came. Life changed. Probably irrevocably. I felt numb. Couldn’t stand around helpless. I decided to document the new daily existence of millions. I advertised my idea on social media and through my local paper in West London. The response was enormous. We made contact by phone and email, arranged details of location, clothing, face-mask and set a date and time; guaranteed no physical contact.
Every three days or so for the past several weeks I have photographed people at home in self-isolation during the evening twilight. Imprisoned in their home, they gaze forlornly out of their window onto a different desolate world outside. I asked them a few informal questions about how they were coping. My twelve-year old son helped carry the lighting.

The project has been very rewarding for me personally as it has prevented me losing my wits. I hope that it will be an important one for personal, national and international posterity, capturing as it does the world scene when it was found to be at its most vulnerable and giving an intimate insight into the lives of those who experienced this macabre time.

Website www.juliafullerton-batten.com