Strange days: eerie photos of locked-down London

The new normal — Spencer Murphy’s ongoing series sees him venturing out to capture scenes that hint at the cultural shifts we are currently witnessing, encapsulating the unfamiliarity of the present.

A few days before the UK entered lockdown, London-based photographer Spencer Murphy took the car across town to pick up some shopping. Halfway through his journey, Louis Armstrong’s ‘What A Wonderful World’ started playing on the radio. 

“At that moment,” he remembers, “I found myself passing by three people wearing protective masks and gloves: a mother and child waiting at a bus stop, and a teenager on a bike performing a pedal wheelie as he rode by in the other direction. It was one of the most surreal and cinematic experiences of my life. I knew then that I had to try and document this.”

Since then, Murphy has been busy working on Strange Days, a project that sees him documenting the various facets of lockdown in the capital. While, at the beginning, he would look to shoot every other day, he has since settled on a schedule of venturing out every few days, hunting for scenes that encapsulate the unfamiliarity of the situation. “I’m looking less now for the people and paraphernalia that define the pandemic and more for nuanced imagery that hints at the cultural shifts we are witnessing.” 

The project stars a cast of expressionless figures (out for supplies, or their daily dose of mandated exercise), amplifying the strangeness that its title suggests about life in London currently. Elsewhere, the quieter moments that he’s been seeking to photograph more recently – graffitied slogans, discarded items, handwritten rallying cries – help shine a light on how some of those people might be feeling behind the confines of their protective mask. 

“Generally people are trying to stay positive and it shows on the streets, people smile and say hello a lot more now. Perhaps that’s just a way of acknowledging that we’re respecting one another’s space, but it definitely feels like there is more of a community spirit – that people are escaping their blinkered nine-to-five existences and becoming more aware of the world and the people around them.” 

While the situation that he’s photographing is, of course, an unprecedented one, Strange Days serves as something of a continuation for Murphy. As a photographer, much of his work is occupied with the world outside his window.

In 2018, he covered the wildfires that swept the globe, but did so focusing on the UK specifically. Elsewhere, his Urban Dirt Bikers series was born when he stumbled upon the titular characters after moving to a new neighbourhood. “I love travelling and responding to that and obviously there are generally more extremes in America and the East,” he says. “But my work has often been about what I’m seeing here and how that relates – both locally and globally.” 

While shooting Strange Days has no doubt been a sobering period, the solidarity that Murphy has witnessed on the streets gives him some cause for optimism moving forward. When things begin to resemble normal again, he’s adamant that it can’t be a return to ‘business as usual’.

“I hope this shift away from capitalist ideology and our relentless abuse of the environment will cause us to reassess how we go about our lives moving forward. We’ve seen how easily the institutions we work so hard to preserve can crumble when something like this occurs. I also look at the situation with the NHS volunteer scheme here; where people in their thousands volunteered to help the NHS in a short period of time, I think that’s a good example of what a basic income could mean to us.” 

“Rather than providing a reason to be bone idle, it would provide a reason to be more giving of our time, more caring, more compassionate, more creative and more present,” he continues. “I think we underestimate ourselves as a society because we’ve never known anything different. I hope we can now see that change is possible, and I hope we continue to acknowledge that the people who work in our hospitals, drive our ambulances, deliver our post, scan our shopping, care for our elderly and clean up after us are to be more greatly valued.”


See more work from the Strange Days project on its official website

Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter


Ad

Latest on Huck

Crowd of silhouetted people at a nighttime event with colourful lighting and a bright spotlight on stage.
Music

Clubbing is good for your health, according to neuroscientists

We Become One — A new documentary explores the positive effects that dance music and shared musical experiences can have on the human brain.

Written by: Zahra Onsori

Indoor skate park with ramps, riders, and abstract architectural elements in blue, white, and black tones.
Sport

In England’s rural north, skateboarding is femme

Zine scene — A new project from visual artist Juliet Klottrup, ‘Skate Like a Lass’, spotlights the FLINTA+ collectives who are redefining what it means to be a skater.

Written by: Zahra Onsori

Black-and-white image of two men in suits, with the text "EVERYTHING IS COMPUTER" in large bright yellow letters overlaying the image.
Culture

Donald Trump says that “everything is computer” – does he have a point?

Huck’s March dispatch — As AI creeps increasingly into our daily lives and our attention spans are lost to social media content, newsletter columnist Emma Garland unpicks the US President’s eyebrow-raising turn of phrase at a White House car show.

Written by: Emma Garland

A group of people, likely children, sitting around a table surrounded by various comic books, magazines, and plates of food.
© Michael Jang
Culture

How the ’70s radicalised the landscape of photography

The ’70s Lens — Half a century ago, visionary photographers including Nan Goldin, Joel Meyerowitz and Larry Sultan pushed the envelope of what was possible in image-making, blurring the boundaries between high and low art. A new exhibition revisits the era.

Written by: Miss Rosen

Silhouette of person on horseback against orange sunset sky, with electricity pylon in foreground.
Culture

The inner-city riding club serving Newcastle’s youth

Stepney Western — Harry Lawson’s new experimental documentary sets up a Western film in the English North East, by focusing on a stables that also functions as a charity for disadvantaged young people.

Written by: Isaac Muk

Couple sitting on ground in book-filled environment
Culture

The British intimacy of ‘the afters’

Not Going Home — In 1998, photographer Mischa Haller travelled to nightclubs just as their doors were shutting and dancers streamed out onto the streets, capturing the country’s partying youth in the early morning haze.

Written by: Ella Glossop

Signup to our newsletter

Sign up to stay informed from the cutting edge of sport, music and counterculture, with personal takes on the state of media and pop culture in your inbox every month from Emma Garland, former Digital Editor of Huck, exclusive interviews, recommendations and more.

Please wait...

Accessibility Settings

Text

Applies the Open Dyslexic font, designed to improve readability for individuals with dyslexia.

Applies a more readable font throughout the website, improving readability.

Underlines links throughout the website, making them easier to distinguish.

Adjusts the font size for improved readability.

Visuals

Reduces animations and disables autoplaying videos across the website, reducing distractions and improving focus.

Reduces the colour saturation throughout the website to create a more soothing visual experience.

Increases the contrast of elements on the website, making text and interface elements easier to distinguish.