Diary of Change

by Gerry Atkinson

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This series is a selection documenting Whitstable over the last few weeks. More people are going out now, shops, restaurants and businesses have gradually been moving towards re-opening where possible. As Lockdown is easing, I am witnessing the changes on a daily basis.

People are sitting in the harbour or along Tankerton slopes and adjusting to new ways. The golf course has reopened, many builders, painters, decorators and tradespeople are getting back to work. The chemists, supermarkets and essential shops are still busy. Sunseekers and young people are congregating on east quay or on the beach. Nature lovers are buying plants and spending time improving their gardens. Bike rides are still popular although the roads are less safe as traffic is increasing, car parks are busier and more crowded. Whitstable Harbour market traders are getting ready to open, people are out sailing again and there are signs of optimism. Is it all happening too quickly, too fast and too soon?

Time will tell.

© All images copyright Gerry Atkinson.

About Gerry

Training as a photojournalist, I started recording  political protests in London in the 1990’s. I spent 18 months volunteering with CWERC, an NGO in the Philippines, recording the lives of indigenous women for an audio-visual ‘Weaving our own Dreams’. I moved on to New Zealand for 4 years working for newspapers. On returning to London I organised a collaborative project with people with mental health problems to produce ‘Through the Lens’ documentary photography exhibition.

My MA research in 2010 resulted in a book ‘Shades of Other Lives’, a series of windows at night, developed in reference to Labour Party comments that “We are all middle class now”. In 2011-2012, I spent 10 months in Greece, Cape Town and New Zealand working on documentary projects. Recent community projects are ‘Our Work of Art 2018-2019’. I have an NUJ Photojournalist Press Card and am currently discussing new ideas and collaborations.

I studied at Leicester University, the London College of Communication and the University for the Creative Arts.

I have extensive solo and group exhibition experience including the British Museums landmark exhibition “Rice and Life in the Philippines”.  My work has been published in newspapers, books and magazines and is held in private collections.

Photo by Glen London

To see more of Gerry’s work, please go to: https://www.gerryatkinson.com/

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