Virtual Exhibition – York In Lockdown
York is my home town and I love it with a passion. I have always lived here and am very privileged to do so. I often go in to town to work, and also for pleasure at weekends (obviously before lockdown) and every time I go I find myself acting like a tourist and walking about, looking around me and up high, just taking in the amazing buildings and streets. I have missed my usual trips in to town over the last few weeks, so the other day, I took my daily walk around deserted York. It was humbling and very eerie. Streets were empty of the usual hustle and bustle, no workers, shoppers or tourists. Shops, cafes and tourists spots were all closed, and it was a very emotional feeling walking around. I thought of the past in York, thousands of years ago, hundreds of years ago and decades ago, and what life must have been like then. And I thought of the future, when this will be probably be the biggest part of York’s history for many many years to come.
I usually use my trusty Nikon D700 for work, however, I have recently purchased a Panasonic G9. This was going to be my second camera for weddings but I am finding I am using it more and more as my main camera! I love it! It is so lightweight and quiet, and it’s ability to shoot in low light, and produce pin sharp images is amazing. So this is what I used for the images in this exhibition, and a wide angle lens.
I have decided to create a Virtual Exhibition of Lockdown York. I have done all the images in black and white, partly because I love black and white and also because I think it captures the mood of this ancient, beautiful and empty city perfectly. I wanted to capture a time in the history of majestic York that will, hopefully, never be repeated again.