Ahead of Monday’s big release of Hold Still 2020‘s final 100 portraits, The Duchess of Cambridge released few more pictures from the shortlisted 100 pictures. Catherine launched the artistic idea during the lockdown with the hope to capture the Nation’s feeling and create a lasting illustration that will tell the story of British life during COVID-19 pandemic.
The project received an overwhelming response with more than 31000 submissions. A free and open to all ages and abilities in the UK, “Hold Still 2020“ was an ambitious artistic project to create a unique photographic portrait that captured a snapshot of the UK amid the lockdown when people were staying home to fight against the Coronavirus. Palace has released many of the submitted pictures since then showcasing life during a difficult period.
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The Duchess of Cambridge personally curated the 100 shortlisted portraits. She was joined by the Director of National Portrait Gallery, Nicholas Cullinan; Writer and poet, Lemn Sissay MBE; Chief Nursing Officer for England, Ruth May and 2018 Portrait of Britain Winner Photographer Maryam Wahid in the selection panel. The final 100 portraits create a snapshot of the UK over the past few months and reflect resilience and bravery, humour and sadness, creativity and kindness, and human tragedy and hope. Last month, The Duchess of Cambridge joined the members of the judging panel to thank them and released a few of the shortlisted pictures.
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The final 100 portraits will feature in a gallery without walls – a one-of-a-kind digital exhibition open to all. The digital gallery will be released tomorrow. Some of the pictures will be showcased in towns and cities across the UK toward the end of the year. The submission to the project also included a Royal Entry. CountessSophie submitted an image of a volunteer at the Shah Jahan Mosque in Woking, Surrey. Titled ‘Packed with love’ the image taken on the Countess’s phone shows Ali Abbas, 26, who helped to establish the mosque’s food parcel delivery service for NHS workers, people self-isolating, and other families in need during the Covi-19 outbreak.
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The newly released pictures include a picture of the ‘Black Lives Matter Protest. It shows a woman holding a sign reading: ‘Be on the right side of history.’ The picture was part of the short video released on Kensington Palace’s Social Media.
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Another beautiful picture is of a father and daughter. In the black and white portrait, the father is hugging his young daughter. A moment during the lockdown.
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Last week National Portrait Gallery also released a small teaser with three of the shortlisted pictures. It included a young girl drawing a huge rainbow onto a windowpane, while in another a boy was pushed around an empty supermarket.
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The artistic project was a brilliant idea spearheaded by The Duchess of Cambridge who herself is a very talented photographer. The project gave many people in the UK a chance to document their lives during a period where life was in the pause mode. Prince William and Duchess Catherine also shared many special moments from their life during the lockdown with us that were captured by Catherine.
I am looking forward to tomorrow’s big release.
