London-based photographer Luis Gomes recently featured in one of our Lockdown Stories blogs, raising money for the NHS with doorstep portraits. We wanted to find out more about Luis’ charitable efforts and see how much he has managed to raise for the NHS during the Covid-19 outbreak.
Keeping busy during lockdown
With the lockdown in place, wedding photographer Luis suddenly had a lot of free time on his hands. He decided to keep photographing while raising money for a good cause after looking through his own wedding album:
“My wife and I were reflecting on our wedding photos, as our first wedding anniversary was approaching. We felt the nostalgic power that photography has to help us remember the special moments in our lives. We were finding ourselves with a bit more free time than usual, so we thought it would be a great idea to use that time and my photography to bring families a memento of their time together during lockdown, whilst at the same time raising money for NHS charities.”
Luis captured some really special moment during lockdown, all while raising £1,050. They couldn’t believe how popular their doorstep photography was:
“We were delighted by the level of interest in the project from families in our community. We photographed 42 families at their doorstep/garden over seven weekends.”
As well as raising money for a good cause, Luis also got to explore his own community and meet new people with this project:
“It was great to get to know so many lovely families in our community. We photographed all sorts of people including NHS workers, local business owners, pregnant ladies due to give birth within the next week, babies in their first few months of life and engaged couples who were supposed to be getting married but had to put off the wedding.”
Looking back on lockdown
As we now are heading towards the end of the lockdown, Luis looks back on that chaotic period and is glad he and his wife made the most of it and did what they could to help:
“The project is so meaningful to me, knowing the contribution it has made to these families and to the NHS, but what makes it extra special for me is that I got to share it with my wife. She doesn’t usually come to my photoshoots but really stepped up to be my super assistant for this project and now even wants to continue assisting me with my photoshoots going forwards.”
Luis has some advice for photographers who are not sure how to get back into their businesses or are looking for new projects to keep themselves busy:
“My advice to other photographers would be to use this time to practice, even if you’re not able to do the type of photography you usually do, and to use the time for personal development and business planning – improving your skills in marketing, business development, public speaking and new photography techniques. This will help to strengthen your business and the industry in future.”
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