The Duchess of Cambridge, Patron of The Royal Photographic Society, and National Portrait Gallery have, this week, launched the Hold Still digital exhibition, featuring 100 portraits selected from over 30,000 submissions during the project’s six-week entry period.
Focused on three core themes – Helpers and Heroes, Your New Normal and Acts of Kindness – the images present a unique record of our shared and individual experiences during this extraordinary period of history, conveying humour and grief, creativity and kindness, tragedy and hope. From virtual birthday parties, handmade rainbows and community clapping to brave NHS staff, resilient keyworkers and people dealing with illness, isolation and loss.
Launched by The Duchess of Cambridge and the National Portrait Gallery in May, Hold Still invited people of all ages, from across the UK to submit a photographic portrait which they had taken during lockdown. The project aimed to capture and document the spirit, the mood, the hopes, the fears and the feelings of the nation as we continued to deal with the coronavirus outbreak.
The images were assessed on the emotions and experiences they conveyed, rather than on their photographic quality or technical expertise.
A selection of the photographs featured in the digital exhibition will also be shown in towns and cities across the UK later in the year.
Explore the final 100 portraits: npg.org.uk/holdstill
#HoldStill2020
Images: Clapping for Mummy & Daddy (our heroes) by Nicole Paige Walters; Gimba the Ward Host by Hassan Akkad; Home Hair by Karni Arieli