Covid Stay Home, Burnthouse Lane, Exeter (from Breathe 2020 series) (2020)

Michelle Sank is a social documentary photographer capturing interactions and aspects of daily life. With a focus on identity and space, Sank has photographed many people in their local areas and homes. South African documentary photographer David Goldblatt (1930–2018) was Sank’s mentor when she was a student before moving to the UK in 1978. In 2006, Sank published a book entitled Becoming, which includes contributions from Goldblatt. Similar to Goldblatt, Sank captures people across Britain, particularly those who may not see themselves in documentary photographs. Sank’s work encompasses issues around social and cultural diversity, revealing an intimate portrayal of the human condition.

Walking in isolation during the first lockdown, Sank observed a strong sense of community amongst her neighbouring area of Burnthouse Lane and was drawn to how people managed private and public spaces in Exeter during Covid-19. This series of photographs is entitled Breathe and conveys how they adjusted to living on their own, in relationships or with families. The portraits are paired with empty spaces and houses. This evident contrast enables meaning to be given to the pandemic where empty chairs, religious icons and flowers became symbolic for death and loss.

Michelle Sank’s evocative images capture those weeks of empty streets, tranquillity and social isolation. They also illustrate the community spirit and human resilience that allowed people to survive such extraordinary circumstances. For RAMM, acquiring the photographs and displaying them in the collection will help to reach out to new audiences and tell their personal stories of Exeter’s lockdown. The Covid-19 lockdown of 2020 has had a profound impact on the city and people of Exeter. A priority of the museum has been to make RAMM’s collections reflect this.

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