Lockdown

'Roy Mehta's arresting images of the natural world are a visceral response to the strange days of the early pandemic, when an unusually beautiful spring contrasted with media coverage of an impending castatrophe - giving rise to a peculiar tension between stillness and chaos'

'In this simultaneous appreciation of beauty and loss, of seeing ourselves as part of a bigger picture, these photographs not only offer a bittersweet reflection on the experience of the pandemic, but also a political commentary on the collective (mis)use of out natural environment that has led to this point of global devastation.'

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24 photographers capture a city gripped by Covid.

2020 brought a seismic break with normality. For those living in urban centres, lockdown made us wonder if city life as we knew it was gone forever. The images in this book express the anxiety, the love, the boredom, the tranquillity and the reconnection with nature that isolation brought. Uncanny but often uplifting, they show London at a defining moment in its history – telling a story that will resonate far beyond the pandemic.

This project began with the premise as suggested by numerous scientists, that it is our impact on the landscape and interference with the natural world that caused Covid-19. The work was made at the beginning and end of each day during the beginning of the Lockdown restrictions, the light and shade reflecting what could be a new beginning or an end to a previous way of being. The texts that are juxtaposed all draw on words that express an aspect of our relationship with nature and hint at some of the broader concerns with how we treat the natural world.

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