Together Apart: Life in Lockdown documents Melbourne’s virus crisis
Melbourne’s lockdown is the subject of a new book, Together Apart, by Altona single mum and photographer Jude van Daalen.
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When Melbourne’s first lockdown was announced photographer Jude van Daalen said she, like everyone else, panicked.
The Altona single mum said she suddenly found herself without work and locked in the confines of her home.
But through the stress and the worry, she said an idea blossomed that allowed her to use the tools of her trade while making meaningful connections within her community.
“I put a post up on the internet and said tell me if you’ve got a story and you’d like me to come capture your story,” Ms van Daalen said.
People were open to the idea and Ms van Daalen said she was careful to practise social distancing and took precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
For many of her subjects she said the photo shoot was the “highlight of their week” that broke periods of boredom, loneliness and fear.
She posted her photos with short stories about each subject online, but after enthusiastic feedback from her followers, she said she quickly realised she needed to make a book to document Melburnians’ lockdown experience.
“I thought this is something so unique, we have to capture this,” Ms van Daalen said.
“We shouldn’t forget it because it was such a unique time.”
The first lockdown from March to June was in many ways easier for people and a bit of a novelty, and this was reflected through people’s photos and their stories.
But when the city’s second lockdown was announced in July and wore on until early November, she said the mood dramatically changed.
By then her neighbour, journalist Belinda Jackson, had been brought on board to interview her subjects and write their stories.
“All the stories at the beginning were nice to read, but the second ones were just people getting really depressed,” Ms van Daalen said.
“When the second lockdown came they weren’t baking cookies anymore, they didn’t want their kids at home.”
Ms van Daalen and Ms Jackson’s book, Together Apart: Life in Lockdown, was written through endless texts, WhatsApp messages, emails and meetings over their back fence.
It features black and white photos and 60 stories of a city where life as its occupants have known it has changed.
A grieving Melburnian tells her story of not being able to return to Germany to be by her dying father’s bedside after he contracted coronavirus.
Another woman who grew up during the war and lived through food rationing speaks about her surprise at having to once again face purchase restrictions at the supermarket.
Haunting images of funerals without mourners and weddings without guests are also depicted, as are happy moments of time spent at home.
Together Apart: Life in Lockdown will launch on December 1 and is available for sale online.
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