May 25th, 2020Sandy driving in to take away photography

THE Driveway Project – Life in Lockdown, by Trentham photographer Sandy Scheltema, aims to document life during these unprecedented times of social distancing due to the coronavirus.

It is a way to document history in Trentham and surrounds during this time of staying at home, and a way of helping families feel connected with others in the community.

Sandy says photography can capture history by recording our changed circumstances during these difficult times.

“The project is photographing families who are in lockdown and working, studying, and doing remote schooling at home. Participants are asked to come out in their driveway as a family unit with items that represent what they have been doing in lockdown, and the photographer is documenting them outside their residence.

“Social distancing rules are being adhered to, with the images being taken from at least five metres away. The project will result in a photo series showcasing local families and the way they are dealing with our new way of life. A short description will accompany each image on how life has changed for the family during the coronavirus.”

The images will be shown on the Hepburn Shire Council Facebook page and the Trentham Connections Facebook page and Sandy’s Instagram page. They will also be provided to the Trentham Historical Society as a record of these times.

Sandy said the project had received funding from Hepburn Shire Council and if further funding could be acquired there would be an exhibition, hopefully at the Cosmopolitan Hotel when social distancing rules are eased, and people can once more come together.

“It often falls to photographers to bear witness and document history. This is a wonderful way of doing so during these extraordinary times. Michael Ignatieff said: “Photography has a unique capacity to document reality, and in so doing transform it into images that we are unable to forget.”

If you live in Trentham or nearby and want to be involved, contact Sandy at www.sandyscheltema.com/contact. The project has been funded by a Hepburn Shire Council COVID-19 Community Support Grant.

Images: this page, from top, Lisa and Grant Cramer, Sally and Peter Young,  Emma Pryse and son Rowan

Opposite page, top, Robyn Stickland, Pete Ekstedt and sons Tom (cello) and Ben (skateboard), and bottom, Brigid and Stuart Leong, with Brigid’s dad James Bishop, sons Jay, Hugo and Edwin, and Brigid’s mum Annabelle Bishop