Portraits of Key Workers, Lockdown 2020
"While so many of us are stuck indoors baking bread and doing puzzles, there are those risking their health and getting out and about to get essential work done.On his daily walks outdoors in West London, photographer Seb Higgins has been snapping pictures of these key workers.He’s created a photo series celebrating their hard work and capturing a snapshot of what life is like amid the coronavirus pandemic.From postal workers to those manning the pharmacies so you can pick up your prescription, these are people going above and beyond to keep things moving."Ellen Scott, Metro, 15th May 2020
Key worker, Issy, on a routine lockdown patrol of Hyde Park.
‘Even though it’s been a difficult and busy time at work, it’s easy compared to home-schooling my 9 year old son,’ says Mandeep, who works at a Tesco Express.
Key worker, Wesley, working for ParcelForce and looking after his elderly mother. “The workload may have gone up and the roads are eerily spooky, but on the flip side it makes for a quicker, more pleasant ride through the streets of London.”
Errol is a bus conductor in South West London. He says he feels a real sense of camaraderie when dropping off NHS staff.
Key worker, Mark, is a refuse collector for my local area. Happy to pose for quick photo but was very busy with the extra loads of household waste.
Annick works as a carer, visiting people in their own homes. The number of patients she looks after daily has dramatically risen due to staff shortages, visiting 10 on the busiest days. ‘The amount of work doesn’t worry me but being kept in the dark over which patients have contracted the virus does,’ she says.
Sulejman, who owns a shop in Shepherd’s Bush, has maintained a steady stock of eggs and toilet roll throughout lockdown. He says: ‘I can’t complain, work has been good and I appreciate the interaction with customers. We just have to keep going.’
TFL Key worker, Sydul, has recovered from the virus and is enjoying the commute to work. “With less traffic and free parking my commute is a real treat at the moment. The virus really knocked me for six so I’m happy to be back.”
Key worker, Frances, is a carer at a nursing home in Hounslow. Work and home life have been intense, especially as she’s been shielding her vulnerable son, Ben, who has down syndrome. “It’s been a challenging time mentally. Working with vulnerable people, protecting Ben and trying to stay positive has been a difficult balancing act. Loving words from my family have helped but I miss the hugs.”
Michael, a London delivery driver, is enjoyeing the quiet streets and as a result quicker turnaround times.
Sam, is a paramedic in London. She says the traffic is slowly increasing and call outs have calmed down. “In some ways I feel like one of the lucky ones because I’m able to continue my work and see my colleagues, who are also my friends.”
Key worker, Philip, says that the empty streets allowed for a much more fluid and rewarding work day.
Mustafa, who works in a pharmacy, says people have slowly started to accept this new normal. He says: ‘Things have calmed down over the last couple of weeks, after a month of panic buying hopeful remedies and immunity boosters.’
Postman Yolly, enjoys the exercise he gets from doing the local round but feels bad for the RoyalMail drivers. “The current restrictions mean that the drivers have almost double the workload. I’m one of the lucky ones who delivers the smaller packages in the local neighbourhood, whilst they have the larger ones covering a huge area on their own.”
Key worker, Dave, is taking comfort in the fact that he still has his job. Especially during this period of beautiful weather.