![\"\"](\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Jill_David_Robert-1-533x400.jpg\")
\t\t\tJill, David and Robert \u2013 the first portrait Harry shot for the series<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n
\u2018I\u2019d go out for a run while the light was amazing \u2013 the community I live in is quite isolated, but occasionally I\u2019d see my neigbours. One of whom had this bright red garage door, which I thought would make for an interesting backdrop \u2013 a good marriage of light and architecture. Him [Bejawn] asking me to do that was the final piece of Jenga being pulled out, and got me to do it,\u2019 he explains.<\/p>\n
\u2018I went and knocked on their door, and they were a bit reticent at first. If you remember the first lockdown, it felt like a much more serious thing and everyone was very frightened. Once I explained what I wanted to do, they were a bit more up for it.\u2019<\/p>\n\t\t
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Brigit-1-533x400.jpg\")
\t\t\tBrigite and Michelle<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\n
Being ably assisted by his nine-year-old son Florian, Harry took the picture, and sent it off for Tristan\u2019s Instagram feed, as well as posting it on his own. \u2018I got a really good response,\u2019 he says. \u2018I decided that the pictures I\u2019d already seen of people, inside their properties, were a clich\u00e9 that I wanted to steer away from \u2013 I wanted mine to have a bit of visual ambiguity or strangeness, rather than it being a boring and literal way of interpreting the lockdown.\u2019<\/p>\n
Once the seed of a project was planted, more followed soon after. \u2018I decided I would shoot all the pictures with the noir-ish light that we were getting, about one hour before sundown. I shot them outside their place \u2013 nobody was really spending the entire time indoors, I thought that was rather a visual contrivance to shoot them like that.\u2019<\/p>\n\t\t
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Abbie_Florian-533x400.jpg\")
\t\t\tAbbie and Florian (Harry\u2019s son)<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n
All of the people in this set were in Harry\u2019s immediate community, including the mother of his son, Abbie, who lives in the same village. She\u2019s pictured with Florian, that day swapping his assistant role for a model one instead \u2013 there he looks a bit grumpy and reluctant. Then there\u2019s Philip, Harry\u2019s piano teacher, who is also an avid gardener. Other neighbours and friends occupy the rest of the frames.<\/p>\n
\u2018I think as human beings we need to feel that our lives have meaning, it\u2019s important to have a creative outlet,\u2019 he tells us, reflecting on how the portraits felt so important at the time. Lots of photographers have undertaken projects during this time. Some projects are transient, and perhaps won\u2019t ever be seen again. Others have already been published into books, as part of online projects and of course in magazines. Harry\u2019s not sure what life these photos will have, if any.<\/p>\n\t\t
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Philip-533x400.jpg\")
\t\t\tPhilip, Harry’s piano teacher<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n
\u2018It was more the process of doing it, rather than thinking that I was going to do anything with the pictures. I am acutely aware that in 20 years\u2019 time, when we look back, they will be slightly more interesting and enigmatic. In the moment, it was just for the intrinsic pleasure of doing it, rather than an attempt to do anything further.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t try and sell them to any magazines, because I knew they would be inundated with lockdown projects anyway. In a few years\u2019 time, it might be interesting to go and interview them, say, or make a vignette film or something. A lot depends on what happens in the future, of course.\u2019<\/p>\n\t\t
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Mavis-533x400.jpg\")
\t\t\tMavis<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n
The images were created using the medium-format digital Fujifilm GFX 50, along with a lens that Harry says he \u2018recklessly\u2019 bought, but doesn\u2019t use too often \u2013 a 120mm macro, which gives a 35mm equivalent focal length of 75mm. This marks a departure from the standard, shorter lenses Harry uses for the vast majority of his portraits.<\/p>\n
Both a stylistic choice and social distancing necessity, he says that it gives an interesting look to the pictures to shoot at this length, while he\u2019s also pleased that an often very functional lens had a creative use for once. There wasn\u2019t too much in the way of direction, which you can see in the final images which have a very natural, if slightly disturbed, feeling to them.<\/p>\n\t\t
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Rupert-533x400.jpg\")
\t\t\tRobert<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n
\u2018Everyone was a bit discombobulated, so it really tapped into that, but at the same time everyone had seen the first picture I\u2019d shot so basically they arranged themselves. The only thing I did do was to get them to step into an area which had good light, so we had that beautiful, intense, end of evening light.\u2019<\/p>\n
Planning was fairly minimal too \u2013 \u2018I\u2019d just say, \u201cI\u2019ll give you a shout when the light\u2019s good\u201d and I\u2019d hop in my car, turn up with a camera and tripod and do it.\u2019 Benefits existed for the sitters as well as the photographer. \u2018With the long hours of inactivity that the first lockdown resulted in, it was kind of a bit of a novelty really, plus I put them on Facebook and got nice comments.\u2019<\/p>\n\t\t
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Kevin-533x400.jpg\")
\t\t\tKevin and family<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n
So will Harry being doing further projects during the continuing lockdowns? \u2018There\u2019s a few people I didn\u2019t get around to photographing, but it sort of feels like the moment\u2019s passed now,\u2019 he says. \u2018I don\u2019t know if I will bother doing anyone else, because this [first] lockdown felt different to the one now. I think it was a moment in time, and I think it\u2019s a nice standalone capture of a time and a place.<\/p>\n
\u2018I do think it\u2019s a little unusual in that most of the other photographers who have done similar portrait projects were in urban environments. It\u2019s quite interesting because although in some ways it\u2019s a nicer place to be if you\u2019ve got a big garden and stuff, in other ways, you\u2019re a bit more isolated. The photographs hopefully show that \u2013 the telephoto lens shows that distance \u2013 like you\u2019re observing them, but you\u2019re not really engaged. There isn\u2019t that much intimacy \u2013 it\u2019s almost like a voyeuristic intimacy, rather than an intimacy where you\u2019re engaged with the person.<\/p>\n
\u2018Oscar Wilde said, a good portrait is more about the painter than the sitter. When you do any of these things, I think anything good, you\u2019re not caring about what anyone else thinks, but it\u2019s about your internal introspection and reflecting on your own life. I was probably a bit, disturbed, like everyone else.<\/p>\n
I felt a bit like a cork that was being tossed around, not having any control over the situation. And in a way, doing that [first] picture of my neighbour, interacting with my community and getting out, it served a purpose. It made me feel connected and made me feel good doing something I do well and derive pleasure from…<\/p>\n
Looking at these shots, it\u2019s easy to be transported back to that moment in time. But, importantly, there\u2019s also hope, determination and resolve, characteristics that will no doubt be required in abundance to take us through to 2021 and beyond.’<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/other.kelsey.host\/amateurphotographer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/harry-borden-135x100.jpg\")
\n\n\n\n
Harry Borden is a professional photographer, well known for his portraiture. He regularly appears in AP as part of the \u2018When Harry Met\u2019 series. His book, Single Dad, will be published by Hoxton Mini Press in the spring \u2013 some of the pictures from which were featured in AP 12 September 2020. Learn more about his work at his website<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Further reading<\/strong> During the first lockdown, Harry Borden wanted to make the most of the time he had on his hands. The result was this set of beautiful portraits around his home community, which will hopefully inspire you to make the most of this difficult time, too<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":144650,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[374,39],"tags":[],"product-category":[],"class_list":["post-144642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviews","category-photo-news"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nHow to take really beautiful portraits<\/a>
\nUse natural and artificial light for perfect portraits<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"