On Monday 23rd March 2020, the UK Government implemented a nationwide lockdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This urgent action introduced various forms of social-distancing, self-isolation, shielding and self-quarantine. During this time on my solitary Government sanctioned exercise walks, I took photographs nearly every day on my mobile phone. As a visual record these have been compiled as a part of a series of ongoing works commenced in 2011, titled Dark Island that explore the changing nature and boundaries of the area. Exercise Walks captures the empty streets, improvised signage and overlooked views that helped ground my senses at an extraordinary time in a usually boisterous urban island I call home. Here, walking the topography as it grades to waterways and building sites, not sure Hackney Wick and Fish Island will ever feel this way again.
