Scenes from Ridley Road Market during lockdown captured by photographer
One hundred and four of the 239 portraits Hackney photographer Gideon Mendel took during the first lockdown in 2020. - Credit: Gideon Mendel, assisted by Maria Quigley
A Hackney photographer has been shortlisted for a photography prize after capturing the people of Ridley Road Market at the start of the pandemic.
Photographer Gideon Mendel's work usually takes him around the world, but when the coronavirus pandemic struck he found himself drawn to his local and much-loved Dalston market.
While cycling one day in early 2020, Mendel noticed Ridley Road painted with red lines, marking an ideal two metre distance between people to prevent the spread of Covid.
The photographer, who has lived in Hackney since about 1991, said: "I was very struck by those, there was something about them. I wanted to address them with my work in some way."
Mendel set up a fixed frame with his tripod, marking the ground with pen. He then started to take photos "obsessively", interviewing hundreds of people wearing masks in the market over 104 days during the first lockdown, which started in March last year and ended on July 3.
He told the Gazette: "I couldn't do it in the day time but [the market] is cleared away everyday so I used to come in the late afternoon or evening and do portraits of people wearing masks.
"It was in the early days of mask wearing and in a way it was kind of public statement – a statement of caring about others as well as your own care."
Most Read
- 1 Operation to crack down on Dalston street robberies erupted into 'violence'
- 2 Flats under construction in Hackney Wick to be knocked down and rebuilt
- 3 Disorder in Dalston: Eight charged and footage referred to IOPC watchdog
- 4 Footage appearing to show officer striking man in Dalston under review
- 5 Arrests for violent disorder following Dalston moped operation
- 6 New community mural painted by residents unveiled in Stoke Newington
- 7 Three men convicted for Dalston shooting
- 8 Two teenagers arrested following stabbing of 16-year-old
- 9 Men jailed after firing 13 shots at people in children's park
- 10 'A horrific attack': Man suffers critical head injuries from Shoreditch fight
Five of Mendel's Ridley Road project have been shortlisted for the international, free-to-enter, Wellcome Photography Prize this year, which celebrates visual stories bringing issues around global health to life.
The 2021 shortlist includes the work of 31 photographers from around the world, with pictures exploring global health challenges such as infectious disease, global heating and mental health. Mendel's photographs were submitted in the infectious disease category.
It has been more than a year since Mendel took his pictures of Ridley Road and he says "things have changed so much" since then.
The requirement to wear masks will be scrapped on July 19 as the government prepares for its fourth and final stage out of lockdown.
Mendel said the voices of the people in the pictures are really important.
"It wasn’t just the photographs but it was getting a sense of their experience," he added.
"Everyone had different kinds of experiences of the lockdown and of the virus at that particular point in time, from someone whose mother had been infected and died, to those who had had the disease to nurses working."
Originally from South Africa, Mendel began working as a photojournalist in 1983 photographing the struggle against apartheid. His current work focuses much more heavily on issues such as climate change and has seen him involved in activist organisations such as Greenpeace and Extinction Rebellion.
The photographer says the virus disrupted the beginning of an exciting year for him. He had been working in Australia photographing the aftermath of the 2020 bushfires that swept the country and had to rush back home.
He said: "I then had a horrible week when everything that was planned; exhibitions, a residency and workshops all collapsed.
"I fear that my initial response was rather narcissistic, obsessing about my own predicament rather than seeing the broader picture and the damage being done to so many.
"I felt it was important to develop some sort of creative response and began to explore the changing social landscape of my neighbourhood in Hackney."
The long-time Hackney resident hopes to exhibit or publish his photos of Ridley Road Market in the future. The project, called 2METRES: Mask Portraits on Ridley Road, was created with the support of emerging artist Maria Quigley.
He said the the response to his project was "amazing", adding: "I met many lovely, heroic, gentle, generous, ordinary and extraordinary people during this endeavour. I decided to bring my shooting to an end as lockdown ended on July 3, and have found myself so missing those frequent visits to Ridley Road."
The shortlist for the Wellcome Photography Prize 2021 was announced on 23 June and the winner will be announced on 28 July via YouTube Live on the Wellcome Trust's YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNawmJaKLhg
Learn more about the photography prize at wellcome.org/what-we-do/our-work/wellcome-photography-prize/2021
Find out more about Gideon Mendel at gideonmendel.com