By Neale James
A comedienne friend of mine said over the weekend; “If I didn’t see Lockdown 1, do I need to see Lockdown 2?”
And so here we are again, if of course you reside in England. It’s Lockdown 2.
It has not been lost on me that there are 28 days in this planned lockdown. We went in November 5th just after midnight and emergence day comes 28 days later on Wednesday 2nd December. I am reminded of the 2002 Danny Boyle movie, ‘28 Days Later,’ the post apocalyptic drama which shows a breakdown of society following the accidental release of a highly contagious virus. Ring any bells?
Someone in government has a warped sense of humour, or it’s coincidence, or it’s somewhat more sinister. I can take no more.
There was a sense of ‘Lockdown Eve’ in our place. My sons played their last competitive badminton for the foreseeable as the sports centre closed its doors, we ate out to support the local curry house before its doors were glued shut with mango chutney and my wife celebrated securing the last hair appointment at our local salon. I simply bought a blade and foam. Small wins.
I’m a photographer.
My chancellor suggests I am ‘non viable.’ I am most certainly labelled as ‘non essential.’
During Lockdown 1, my daily exercise walk took me along a canal towpath, a popular haunt for members of the local angler’s association. I’m taking this walk once more, during the second ‘interference.’ The ‘fishing line, as it’s colloquially called, stations numbers some twenty metres apart. The numbers that are pinned, taped, strapped to fences and posts that protrude from the foliage covered ground are indicators of where anglers may pitch. They are angler stands. I have photographed the first twenty-eight. Each angler stand represents a day of our lockdown.
Each day that passes I will replace one angler stand number with my lockdown offering, to form an organic living post.
I did not choose to photographically record the original lockdown. I was battle weary within weeks of our original incarceration. But I do this time. It’s a different lockdown. It’s not nearly so stringent. We are not locked behind our front doors in quite the same fashion, though the message, ‘Stay At Home’ applies to me and my occupation.
