Photography Project – Teenage Life During Covid-19 Lockdown

Photograph selected by Leica to feature on the LFI Gallery Covid-19 #stayhome project page.

Clementing pausing from her book to look out at the river next to the house. Having been for her walk this morining that’s it now until tomorrow.

Edmund checking Instagram on his phone before coming downstairs for breakfast. The almost constant communication between friends has kept him mentally positive throughout these times.

Clementine taking time out to catch up on a film, in a break from online schooling.

Photograph of Edmund surrounded by his hobbies during lockdown. He is lying on the piano stool playing on his phone.

School has begun for the summer term. There are technical issues at every turn. Hopefully by the end of the week everything will be working smoothly.

Clementine sitting in the sunshine to read her book by the river, as she has to stay at home.

Preparing for the first day of home schooling. Laptop at the ready for facetime lessons and written homework. Teachers have to adjust also to teaching to a remote classroom, some students away now in different time zones. I thought I’d include the typical bomb site of a teenager’s bedroom, which is being ignored for now.

With no barbers open these days, Douglas has put his life into Clementine’s hands and handed her the clippers for his number 1 trim.

Bruthing teeth – a necessary daily chore.

Picture to show family life during lockdown. This image is a reflection shown in the oven as a large part of the family conversation now revolves around the menu for evening meals . The children are catching up on news with their friends via social media before starting their day of home schooling.

It is strange to be eating at home on a school day, with everyone being together for every meal. Even the household chores can be a break from home schooling, a view through the kitchen window added to a sense of reflectance. Photograph selected by Leica to feature on the LFI Gallery Covid-19 #stayhome project page.

A cheering lunch complete with lemon drizzle cake. Keeping the teenagers happy. Photographed from above to alter the perspective, using my trustee Gitzo tripod. A couple of years ago I carried out much research into tripods to find the lightest yet strongest and settled on the Gitzo carbon fibre.

Edmund preparing the roast for dinner. Despite his expression here he really enjoys cooking but the onions had made his eyes stream with tears.

Edmund is cleaning the oven after a roast. Strange times indeed – Kudos to him. Photographed employing a very wide-angle lens close up, which for a portrait is not something one would normally consider. I used the Voigtlander 15mm lens to generate this unusual perspective.

Photograph of Edmund hoovering the hallway at home during lockdown.

The lockdown has now closed all the golf courses, so the most practice that can be carried out for a keen golfer is putting practice at home with a green baize mat that can be placed anywhere for a bit of variation.

Wednesday was the first day when Lockdown started to ease and Edmund could return to the golf course.

With no CCF at school during lockdown Clementine is putting her orienteering skills to use by studying a map of Oxford to help her plan her next exercise outing.

A new pair of bright red laces for Clementine’s beloved Dr Marten boots – to match her dress and the Leica red dot incidentally. If you are going out for only one hour during lockdown be sure to look stylish.

During lockdown, learning the basics of rock guitar. A challenge which takes time but there is plenty of that a present.

School science projects need to continue during the lockdown. Here Clementine is upgrading the school robot entry into this year’s competition at Southampton University.

Tidying up with summer approaching means putting winter clothes and blankets away.

Many hours of lockdown are spent playing the piano the concentration makes for ideal escapism. Here the headphones prove a useful tool in a crowded home with the electric piano and TV all in the same room. Photograph selected by Leica to feature on the LFI Gallery Covid-19 #stayhome project page.

Edmund getting the garden watered, an opportunity to try and spray his increasingly annoying sister and parents.

Getting ready for a bike ride. Pumping up the tyres after a couple of years of neglect, ready to go in a couple of minutes. For shallow depth of field so that the face is sharp and remainder softly out of focus, I used a Leica 90mm portrait lens – the Summicron APO.

The children keeping on top of social media after lunch – anywhere will do.

Tackling a wooden jigsaw, it has 2 layers to the scene so much harder than it looks.

Edmund taking some time to scoot around an eerily empty shopping mall in Oxford. No one was in the mall at the time, even though it would normally have been a busy bank holiday Monday. The sign says ‘THANK YOU NHS’ for all their work during the Covid-19 crisis.

Clementine shown here during her daily period of exercise. She is pictured walking past SAID Business School in Oxford. The pedestrian area shown is normally bustling with students and workers.

Edmund takes the opportunity for some speed scooting in a completely empty shopping mall in Oxford. Such strange times.

A short moody walk for exercise. Sometimes even teenagers need sun and fresh air to boost their morale. They are missing their friends and fun time away from their parents during lockdown.

An evening walk along a new route through the Oxford pathways. Here captured framed by the Spring blossom

Cleme’s walk took her over one of many little used pedestrian bridges in Oxford.

During lockdown people are allowed one period of exercise per day, so as a favour Clementine took her neighbour’s dog for a walk to Port Meadow in Oxford. Another wide-angle portrait shot from very low down directly towards the sun. Shooting into the sun often gives some of the most dramatic photographs. The 21mm Leica Super Elmar is fantastic at controlling flare, whilst maintaining contrast, and the results always surpass my expectations.

A short pause on Clementine’s quiet walk today to watch the world go by, just one jogger and some geese.

Edmund playing the John Malcolm Reed Organ dated 1907 in the very quiet and remote church at Binsey near Oxford. I suspect Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells had never graced those keys before.

Daily walk, here pictured walking beneath a railway bridge on a canal path in central Oxford, not far from the railway station.

Walking a neighbour’s energetic dog during lockdown on Port Meadow, a tranquil area of Oxford that has been untouched since Saxon Times and popular with dog walkers and the occaisional brave swimmer. It is a welcome relief to be out in the sunshine for both the dog and teenager.

Teenager during exercise break, photographed in a tunnel with soothing graffiti behind.

When a rainbow jumper finds a chalk drawing of a rainbow in the next street you have to take a photograph. The rainbow has been a strong symbol of these times, signifying hope with perhaps, some metaphorical gold lurking at the end.

Photograph taken in Oxford during lockdown of Bridge of Sighs with teenager standing beneath the bridge. A beautiful blue sky but no one around even at the weekend.

Edmund choosing bunches of asparagus during a lockdown cycle ride from a nearby Oxfordshire farm.

Lockdown photograph chosen to appear on BBC website to illustrate their brief of ‘Your pictures of lockdown at home’

Photograph of Clementine getting ready to go for a walk in Oxford over lockdown this summer. She is extremely fond of her Dr.Marten boots and has an array of different coloured laces for them.