Documenting Island life in extraordinary times

Documenting Island life in extraordinary times

Mon, 20 Apr 2020

Culture Vannin is partnering with photographer, Phil Kneen, to document Island life during the current public health situation. A concept originally Phil’s own, Culture Vannin approached him to see if he would be interested in being commissioned, so that his work could become part of a visual archive to be shared more widely – and were delighted when he agreed.

Phil writes:

“I first became aware of how serious COVID19 would get during a trip to London at the beginning of February 2020 - people at the airports were wearing face masks and there was a faint whisper of 'social distancing'. That's when I began a personal daily log through my photography. I'm extremely fortunate in that I have a part-time job, delivery driving from 5am every day. I cover the entire island, which means I have a unique freedom and access in a time when most other islanders are confined to their homes. All the images in this series were taken from inside, or very close to my vehicle.”

Phil’s work has received critical acclaim internationally and he has been in demand for projects and exhibitions both here in the Island and in far flung parts of the globe. He is very straightforward about his profession, he simply says that:

“you go out, take a photo of something you like, if you enjoy that image then it’s a good photo. It’s really that simple.”

The photographs are the cornerstone of a new set of #treisht2020 projects available to established freelancers in the Isle of Man from creative and Manx cultural backgrounds.

All of the projects are for immediate start and relate to cultural development work and will appeal to artists, musicians, photographers, broadcasters and anyone with creative ideas.

Full information on the #treisht2020 projects is available on our website:  #treisht2020 projects

Phil Kneen’s work in partnership with Culture Vannin can be found here: Capturing the absences