Winners of the 'My Lockdown' photo competition

Posted on: 17 May 2021 in Blog posts

After opening up the shortlisted photo entries to a public vote last Friday, the polls have now closed and the results are now in.

Undergraduate winning entry

Tia Lowman - 'Lockdown has been extremely hard for myself, as I imagine for many others too. I'm declared clinically extremely vulnerable in this pandemic due to my severe asthma and, as a result, I was not allowed to exit my house, not even for even a walk, from March to June. For 3 month of the year, all I could do was stare out my window, looking at the world pass me by, seeing households socialise with each other and break the confined walls of their isolation; I felt even more disconnected from society when everyone was able to meet up with one other person outside and all I craved was that breath of fresh air and to laugh again, but I still wasn't allowed to step outside of my front door. Days and nights passed, and I looked outside my window, imagining what I would do the minute I was set free; meet up with friends, go for a walk, go to the beach, anything! Not minding if it had to be socially distanced, just to have company again and enjoy the small things in life. My 3 months ended, yet the anxiety of interacting in a Covid riddled world only grew stronger. What if I got it? What if I ended up in hospital? Would I die? The window stopping me from life was no longer made of wood and glass, but instead of anxiety, and it just kept closing tighter and tighter, and all I could do was dream again about the carefree life I missed. Vaccinations came around, and it was like I was handed the key to open my window. The weeks passed by, increasing my immunity, and the fresh air of freedom was slowly filling my lungs. I am now fully vaccinated, and that second dose felt like a block to stop the window from fully closing again. I no longer look through windows missing the life I had, but instead, look for opportunities to live.'

Postgraduate (MSc and PhD students) winning entry

Mahmood Alsaadi - This photo shortens the life and study during the lockdown. Where the streets in the university are empty of students and the only thing there is a smart device. As the university was converted to smart devices. You can see that the smart phone surround the university.'

Staff winning entry

Yi Huang - 'Happy New Year!' 

Congratulations to the winners, and a huge thank you to all of the people who took the time to send in photos! The engagement with this activity has been great and we hope that viewing other people’s photos has shown some sides of lockdown that we can all relate to.