TOGETHER APART: LIFE IN LOCKDOWN
How Melbourne united against the coronavirus
When COVID-19 hit Melbourne harder than a runaway tram, our lives changed – literally overnight. Together Apart: Life in Lockdown gives a rare glimpse into life in lockdown, beautifully capturing the isolation, frustration, hope, humour, and innate human need for togetherness that quickly became part of our daily lives.
Photographed, written and printed in Melbourne, Together Apart is photographer Jude van Daalen and journalist Belinda Jackson’s beautiful black-and-white coffee table book featuring 60 interviews and portraits of people in their neighbourhood: the lollipop lady waiting for the children who never come, a chilling experience of a COVID ward, the families separated by borders.
We also hear, in their own words, from the café owner serving up both caffeine and counselling, the children dreaming of returning to their classrooms after six months of homeschooling, and the little bear hunters rediscovering the rainbows, ancient trees and fairy gardens in their streets as the world slowed.
Together Apart: Life in Lockdown
$69
Buy 2 or more books for only $65 each.
Together Apart is a coffee table book about life in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic in Melbourne.
Please note: If you live in regional or rural Australia, email us your order and we will try arrange more competitive shipping rate than shown on screen. Thank you!
The book that was born over the back fence
What started as a conversation over the back fence to break the solitude of lockdown has grown into a friendship and a partnership between portrait photographer Jude van Daalen and her next-door neighbour, journalist Belinda Jackson. This book was co-authored virtually, through a gazillion phone calls, emails and text messages zapped between their home offices, 20 metres apart.
Pictured: photographer Jude van Daalen and journalist Belinda Jackson (and their back fence).
“Like so many others, I felt more isolated than I’d ever felt before. I needed connection, and taking these photographs was a way to reach into our community and bring people together.
As a photographer, I also know how important it is to document the human experience – in good times and bad.
By letting us look into their own lockdown for just a moment, the people in these photos have connected us all more than they could ever have imagined.”
JUDE VAN DAALEN, PHOTOGRAPHER
“Helping tell these stories, I realised that I wasn’t the only one feeling stranded, even though, at times, it felt like it.
When Jude told me over our shared back fence that she was documenting local people’s stories, I felt so relieved someone was going to encapsulate the emotions of this time.
We are under pressure, all of us. From
the doctor and the teacher, to the pensioner and the school kids, I recognise parts of my own lockdown experience
in every story.”
BELINDA JACKSON, JOURNALIST
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“Thank you, Jude and Belinda…
It is a privilege and joy that Jude and Belinda captured my memories, my story, and my beautiful boys to be part of this amazing collection.
All of the images and stories though will remind you of your own journey in 2020, in different ways.
Life will go back to normal – a new improved normal. This book is a glorious reminder of why.
Congratulations to you, Jude and Belle.
Your book tells of amazing tales
of the journeys we have been through and how life changed
for a moment or forever.
It’s beautiful to have captured
so many of Altona’s amazing characters. You should be so proud. So many special people
in here 😍. Thanks for the memories.
Jude and Belinda’s “Life in Lockdown” project was fantastic and having her and Belinda document my daughter and my time in isolation was very special for us.
Jude’s photos are spectacular and tell each story perfectly.
Having this beautiful book portraying so many amazing stories during this crazy time will be treasured for a long time. Thank you!