Stunning portrait gallery of how Queenslanders spent life in lockdown
A new portrait exhibition has captured how Queenslanders spent 2020 life in partial lockdown. And the things that offered them most comfort - family, gardens and pets.
QWeekend
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There have been dark days for many this year, but it has also been a time to stop, reflect and appreciate little things that bring joy such as time at home, connecting with family, dogs and gardens. A new portrait exhibition, The Connected Project, by photographer David Martinelli captures lockdown life for USQ staff.
Name: Mary Johnson, 45, and Clare Moseley, 47
Location: Karalee, Ipswich
“Fortunately for us as neighbours, we were still able to socialise during COVID-19, albeit abiding by social distancing. Mostly we appreciated our regular coffee catch-ups when working from home, as these were a welcome relief from the isolation of not working on campus, and the joys of home schooling. We also had fun planning our birthday get-togethers - we had three during lockdown - and celebrated them across our garden fence.”
Name: Nicholas Britnell, 27
Location: Lockyer Valley
“In my previous job I worked in Tokyo and lived in a very, very small share unit. While it was a brilliant experience, the very thought of being in lockdown and confined in that type of dense living doesn’t exactly thrill me. I think that is why I cherish the open spaces in regional Australia, in particular. I built a home, on one acre at the foothills of the Great Dividing Range, and it was through working in the garden and landscaping that I remained grounded and connected.”
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Name: Dr Geoff Parkes, 45
Location: South Toowoomba
“I had to quarantine for two weeks after returning from Japan and another COVID scare. Amazon deliveries connected me to the outside world. Inside my home, I learnt how to be alone again, and strong, as new CDs with jazz music played long into the night.”
Name: Natalia Gradwell, 28, Damien Morey, 32, and border collie Dobby, 2
Location: South Toowoomba
“After years of procrastination, our 100+ year old cottage finally received the face lift it deserved. During isolation, instead of driving to Brisbane most weekends to visit family, we painted and built our fence – much to the delight of our free-range border collie – forcing our busy household to fence-off its differences and better connect with each other.”
Name: Professor Allan Layton, 66
Location: Corinda, Brisbane
“We decided to convert our 1920s external garage into a bright multipurpose space for the family. Harking back to the 1950s, this retro space is reminiscent of a 50s diner. It is used for ballroom dance lessons, movie nights, a general teenage space and a gaming room. And… it is still used to accommodate the family car.”
Name: Sarah Green, 38, and Lola
Location: Cotswold Hills (western outskirts of Toowoomba)
“Every afternoon I would go for a walk as the autumn sunsets illuminated the endless western sky. Sometimes we would walk as a family to break the house confinement, other times it was just me and my trusty companion Lola. It was a chance to clear the head, recharge and look out to what will be on the next horizon. It kind of became my COVID mantra ‘look out not down’ things will work out.’’
Name: Njoroge family (Francis Njoroge Gacenga, 46, Patricia Njoroge, 43, Gacenga Njoroge, 19, Wairimu Njoroge, 18, Chege Njoroge, 15, Ndatha Njoroge, 13, Wangari Njoroge, 11)
Location: Windsor, Brisbane
“For us a silver lining was the rare opportunity of having the whole family at home together for a prolonged period. In addition to the online schooling and working from home we found time to develop latent talents. Gacenga finessed his body building workouts, Wairimu experimented new baking techniques, Chege perfected his basketball free throws, Ndatha got into reading novels and Wangari discovered her talent for drawing and painting. Patricia and I matured our e-health start-up. This has been a time for further self-discovery and connectedness for our family”
Name: Spencer Howson, 48
Location: Indooroopilly
“When COVID hit, I found myself working very long days from home just to get everything done. Whenever I needed a break, I would walk out onto the back deck with a handful of mandarins! I can’t tell you how much I love peeling them, separating and eating the pieces, and spitting the pips into the garden! Mandarins were a mindful, mental life-saver!’’
Name: Erin Byles, 44
Location: East Toowoomba
“Extra time at home during isolation allowed me to dedicate more time to renovating my Queenslander (a joint project with Mum and Dad) and developing the garden… a labour of love! I’ve gained renewed motivation to do what you’re passionate about and ‘stop and smell the roses’ from time to time.”
Name: Associate Professor David Thorpe, 66
Location: Loganlea
“We have the freedom of a large garden, which is my wife Isabella’s pride and joy, on a one acre property at Loganlea near Brisbane, for exercise and appreciation of wildlife. I was also able to spend much of my spare time during the lockdown indulging my hobby of reading. The picture shows me with some books about Australia as it was about 100 years ago beside me, and reading a book called Seven Pillars of Wisdom, which was written by T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) about his famous role in World War 1.”
Name: Dr Coralie Graham, 61, and Tarla
Location: Newtown, Toowoomba
“During isolation, after long days of work in front of my computer, I found great pleasure in my garden (instead of the daily commute) and started striking cuttings from my own and my mum’s rose gardens - with Tarla’s supervision of course. I have tested several methods and have a pretty good strike rate now and have enjoyed sharing the many new rose plants with family and friends.”
Name: Rhianwen Whitney, 33
Location: Middle Ridge, Toowoomba
“During isolation, technology became a lifeline. I am really close with my siblings so I struggled with being alone (especially missing hugs from my nephews and niece). I would video chat my sisters throughout the day, even just to sit quietly together. But at night, we’d connect via online gaming to laugh and catch up while simultaneously fighting virtual robots.”
Name: Katie Baker, 41
Location: Yeerongpilly
“Discovering my local weekly farmers markets, pulling out the old sewing machine at long last and reconnecting with my creativity. It reminded me that it’s the small things that bring me joy.”
Name: Morwenna (Mo) Boddington, 49, and Kira
Location: Preston (outskirts of Toowoomba)
“I work in the science teaching laboratories. When we shut down I started to build the laboratory-specific digital resources for the academics to use in their teaching. I started filming various practical task in a lab setting - just using my mobile phone. Then at home I learnt how to cut and edit the raw footage to produce the clips. It’s a work in progress, but I hope the students find it beneficial. The dogs did. They enjoyed the extra company.”
Name: Erin Venter, 34 and Narelle Girle, 62
Location: East Toowoomba
“Getting the time to just ‘be’ at home instead of the busyness of life was a clear benefit of isolation. Taking more time to cook those special recipes and get stuck into the garden was quite the novelty. Being home for the odd postie delivery wasn’t too bad either!’’
Name: Amy Collingwood, 33 and Sonny Collingwood, 2
Location: Mount Isa
“Stranded in Mount Isa, no flights in or out – my family’s lockdown experience was bittersweet sojourn. I was on leave from work, staying with my husband during his teaching placement in the Gulf Country, when everything ‘shut down’. It was a wonderful and positive experience to immerse ourselves in the local community, yet very difficult to be marooned from family and friends.”
The project will be exhibited at the University of Southern Queensland Art Gallery in 2021.
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