there's light at the end of the tunnel

‘there’s light at the end of the tunnel’ is a photo essay in pictures and words with a message of hope for these Covid times.

My artistic instinct is simple: I photograph what is around me in an urban setting. Over half a century, my ‘back catalogue’ has become a record of my endless quest to seize that timeless photo. Since those far-flung teenage years, I have regarded my camera as a way of navigating a magical universe filled with creativity and delight. And the more imagery I capture, the more I understand I have to learn. But it's a thrilling ride and I savour every moment of it.

I’m indebted to a multitude of influences from so many spheres of activity including art, photography and design. Here’s a tiny subset of these sources of inspiration: Leonora Carrington, Vincent Van Gogh, Berthe Morisot, Giorgio de Chirico, Mark Rothko; Diane Arbus, Ernst Haas, Vivian Maier, Fan Ho, Rena Effendi, Bert Hardy; Barbara Hepworth, Antony Gormley; Celtic, Art Deco, Brutalism, Bauhaus.

‘Photography Transformed’ (Klaus Kertess, 2002) is a book which opened up many new and exciting vistas in imagery which I’ve been exploring ever since.

Fast forward to 2020 when the Covid Times invaded our lives. I took courage and walked around Wandsworth in south London, England not far from where I live. One day, I was strolling along the footpath beside the South Circular thoroughfare opposite a new housing development near Ram Street, and I came across a large advert on a perimeter wall by a vacant site.

My eye was drawn to the scientific-looking flowchart that formed the greater part of this quirky street art with a well-known expression slotted in at either end, no doubt designed to offer comfort. It stated: ‘There’s light at the end of the tunnel.’

This was the catalyst of invention I was looking for and I took some pictures.

But then reality intervened, as it does. During the rest of 2020 and through 2021, we were overtaken by the scourge of the Covid-19 pandemic and before we knew it a grim existential certainty hung over us like a giant sword of Damocles imperilling the entire world. It’s been terrifying to live through. So many have suffered in so many ways and this 21st century version of the plague is still not beaten yet. Yes, vaccines have been unveiled as a ‘golden bullet’ to zap this microscopic serial killer but we are still vulnerable as we wait. And wait. And wait.

Will we survive or will we succumb to this vicious virus?

As 2021 drew to a close, I looked anew on the photos I’d taken of my local area near Ram Street back in 2020 with that memorable phrase buzzing about in my subconscious, ‘there’s light at the end of the tunnel’. I realised I had to rejig my original idea to reflect the life and death scenario we had all been living through. When putting together a photo diary for this troubled period, I added some poetry, commentary and even earthy language.

It was something life-affirming to cling on to.

At the same time, I felt this artwork had to portray a turmoil of conflicting emotions and responses as we got on with our lives while see-sawing our way through this era of pain and fear – sometimes not knowing which way to turn. People talked of a threat endangering all of us like never before. As a result, we all needed hope like never before.

For me, my photos of construction cranes arcing skywards, for instance, came to represent an escape route of sorts from our cruel-edged reality where media gobbets of depressing news bombarded us night and day. I gazed at these tall thin agents of creation pointing to the heavens and daydreamed I could zoom up them to a new place far away from the mayhem in our midst to where harmony, make-believe and the imagination held sway.

The advertising display for power cables beside a busy road in south London which I’d photographed had taken on, in my eyes, a much more powerful significance than could ever have been imagined. Given the Covid ordeal we’ve all struggled through, this PR blurb was actually offering us a simple but profound message we are all so desperate to hear: there’s light at the end of the tunnel.

Nicholas Mackey

(aka riverdrifter5)

Wandsworth, London, UK

10th May 2022

Submitted images are taken from a photo diary I kept during this Covid period.