NEWCASTLE

This new book presents a typology of 100 portraits of households of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, taken in 2020 during some of the strictest COVID-19 lockdowns in the world. These restrictions have given the photographer Luke David Kellett a unique opportunity to compile a visual representation of the architecture and people of Newcastle and contribute to the collective memory of this period. Each photograph of the book was made using a large format camera, with a large concern for uniformity of perspective and framing. Kellett's intention was to create a structure and coherence that both highlights the differences and the similarities between the architectural details of the city, while allowing the viewer to focus on individuals without being distracted by a changing composition. Due to the conditions of confinement, Kellett had to develop the large format color film by hand. This complex process has resulted in technical defects and unexpected results in some images. He chose to accept these oddities in order to express and represent the surreal circumstances of the time. Each household was asked about its situation, his fears and his hopes, and a summary of these interviews is included in the book to give an insight into the lives of the locals at the time. Although the project is city-specific, it represents the experiences of many international communities during the pandemic.