Barry Falk: Undiagnosed

About

In response to the Covid-19 Pandemic, Barry decided, like many photographers, to try to capture some of the atmosphere of these strange times. The project rationale was to photograph as many of his friends and neighbours as possible within walking distance of where he lives. Barry was restricted by Government Guidelines around public safety; going out was itself a risk, so he was limited to one or two photoshoots per daily walk.

This required careful planning, setting up a system of appointments, maintaining a safe distance, using a long lens for the close-up shots.

Messages were sent out with a simple request: Barry wanted to photograph people on their front doorsteps, informal pose (messy hair and embarrassing slippers would be fine). The response was overwhelmingly affirmative: people wanted to be a part of a collective project, to be noticed in this time of social distancing. As the project developed it begun to link people together, forming a collective sense of self during this socially isolated period.

Undiagnosed refers to the many, at time of project, who were without a diagnosis yet still socially distanced. More to the point, these were friends and neighbours whose homes were now off limits, making the situation even more disconcerting: the familiar was now very unfamiliar. 

The exhibition will consist of 30 portraits. In addition, working within the continued lockdown conditions, Barry will be presenting a series of pre-arranged artist’s talks/meetings (for small, safe, social bubbles) throughout the weekends of October.

These will be listed as appointments on the Photo Fringe website.