Merry Christmas everyone!

For most of us this has been a very different Christmas. For me - this was the first Christmas when I couldn’t be with my parents and I couldn’t see my friends to exchange presents and laugh together. On the other hand, my husband and I cooked our first Christmas turkey together (Yeyyy!), we had all the time in the world to talk about the past year and set our goals and dreams for the following 2021. I am sure that it has been a strange Christmas for you too! 

As soon as the Government announced that London has been put in tier four my heart sank - I knew that I couldn’t travel to Birmingham to spend Christmas with the rest of my family. My second thought as a photographer was that I had to do something to document this very different Christmas. So I decided to do doorstep photoshoots with people living in my area to spread positivity and capture the way they are celebrating this year. I hope that with my pictures I will remind everyone that even though it wasn’t the Christmas we all hoped for there is always light at the end of the tunnel and that even when you feel the most lonely there is always someone next to you - your partner, your friend, your flatmate, your neighbour, your pet. 

As I edited the moments I captured I was inspired to think that maybe this initiative shouldn’t go to waste and that I could help the loneliest people this Christmas. So I set up a fundraiser to support “Dementia UK”. People with dementia have been seriously affected by the isolation during the pandemic. I hope that by doing this we can help families go through this difficult period more easily and help provide better care for the loved ones who need it the most. 

During the next few days I will be posting photographs of people living in South East London, who couldn’t be with the rest of their families due to COVID-19. I hope that my pictures will cheer you up and will inspire you to help others.