In the early months of 2020, our day-to-day lives became unrecognisable. Many of us found new meaning and solace in the new, the old, or the simpler things.
Forest Hill-based photographers Jimmy Irwin and Hannah Blackmore sought to highlight these aspects of the pandemic story, by documenting the changing seasons, soily fingernails and the people getting back to socially distanced growing on their allotments last year.
The results are displayed in their new photobook, An Allotment. It captures the frontline workers, chefs, teachers, retirees and the furloughed as they tend to plants, grow their food, and witness the shifting seasons while turning the soil.
“We could see the allotments as a place to escape from the stress of the pandemic, like a welcome haven,” says Hannah. “Some people who were furloughed spend the whole summer there. For others who were nurses and very busy, it would be a couple of hours a week, but they were really treasured.”
Excerpt from the August/September 2021 issue of Lewisham Ledger
Laura Day 
