Naomi James

Lockdown Decay; All Our Landscapes Reimagined | All Our Landscapes reimagined is a Polaroid decay project carried out over the course of the three UK lockdowns.

I use a Polaroid SX-70 for much of my photographic work and at the start of the first lockdown, I selected a collection of images I had taken over the preceding months which reflected aspects of my everyday life. I placed sets of images in cleaning solutions- and contained them in boxes, just as, in a sense, we were to be. Polaroid decay is an unpredictable process which felt appropriate for the uncertain times in which we found ourselves.

As the life we knew disintegrated around us, the chemistry of the images altered. During a period when something microscopic had us in its grip, new landscapes with a cellular quality were created in their place. Sharply contrasting the devastating world news, a beauty was emerging- one I was also experiencing in my everyday life as the pace of my life altered and I became more aware of my surroundings.

I started removing the Polaroids and photographing them at key moments as restrictions were lifted. The first prints were taken out on May 13th with the initial easing of measures and the last set of the first series was removed on September 1st when I returned to work.

For the second lockdown, I took photographs of the beach huts at Wells in Norfolk whilst on holiday during the October half term. I knew restrictions were set to tighten again and for the first time heard the term ‘digital Christmas.’ The beach huts, once a symbol of vacations and freedom, suddenly symbolised another impending confinement. I chose to remove all the images on Christmas Day- the Polaroids taking the place of family members and friends I would not see.

During the second lockdown, I remained at work, but as the third was announced, I knew I would be working from home again. I looked to my immediate environment, recording the fabric of my surroundings in my images. Again, photographs were removed at each stage restrictions were lifted.

As life in Britain returns to the closest form of normality we have known for some time, we now hope and wait. As I reflect on this period and these images, I feel there will be elements of permanent change for me- a reimagining of my own landscapes. www.naomi-james.co.uk