As we approach the third anniversary of the first COVID19 lockdown we are very excited to be able to announce that darkroom member Giacomo Mantovani has donated an exclusive 1-of-1 edition print to the National Gallery in London.
The image comes from Mantovani’s LCKDN20 project, a comprehensive documentation of the empty streets of London shot between March 30 and May 9, 2020. The photographer took more than 1,600 pictures in over 40 locations around the city, making LCKDN20 one of the most extensive records of the empty capital shot on film. Using a Hasselblad and Ilford HP5 Plus, the images were hand-printed on fibre base paper (Ilford Multigrade Classic Glossy) at Darkroom London.
Watch the whole journey here.
The donated print is an atmospheric image of the National Gallery - one of the most recognisable buildings in London, and most important museums in the world - with its majestic facade reflected on the wet pavement below. The absence of people in the frame adds to the eerie sense of desolation that was felt across London and many other normally bustling cities across the nation, during the pandemic.
Giacomo Mantovani, creator of LCKDN20, and Gabriele Finaldi, director of the National Gallery, during the handover of the LCKDN20 print on Feb. 10, 2023.
On receiving the donation Gabriele Finaldi, director of the National Gallery, described the print as “an image of great elegance and poignancy”, which “documents an important time in the life of the Gallery and in the history of London”. Finaldi further described the LCKDN20 project as "an extraordinary photographic project, which is both aesthetic and documentary”.
For more information about LCKDN20 visit: www.LCKDN20.com