The Duchess of Cambridge is encouraging people to look for digital posters and prints of Hold Still portraits around the United Kingdom to continue highlighting people’s experiences during pandemic lockdowns.
The Kensington Palace social media accounts shared a few snaps of Hold Still portraits around the UK on October 27th 2020, writing, “Last week the Hold Still community exhibition arrived in towns and cities across the UK. Since then, we have seen so many photos of the portraits across the country, and wanted to share some of those touching images. With your help, we are going to continue to highlight people’s experience of life during lockdown.”
The Palace is asking anyone who spots a portrait to snap a photo and share it on social media with the hashtag #HoldStill so that they can share a round-up of images at the end of the week.
Kate viewed portraits on display at Waterloo in south London last week, meeting one of the subjects, Sami Massalami Mohammed Elmassalami Ayed, a volunteer with the Hackney Food Hub. She and William later visited St Bartholomew’s Hospital to meet with Joyce Duah, the photographer of another portrait chosen for the exhibition.
Of the project, Kate has said that, “Hold Still aims to capture a portrait of the nation, the spirit of the nation, what everyone is going through at this time. Photographs reflecting resilience, bravery, kindness – all those things that people are experiencing.”
Hold Still was launched by Kate back in the summer with her patronage, the National Portrait Gallery, as a way for people around the UK to share snapshots of life in COVID-19 lockdowns. From over 31,000 entries, 100 final images were chosen for exhibition in a digital gallery and are now popping up all over the UK in physical format.
The physical portraits will be on display until 6 December with support from Co-Op UK and the National Portrait Gallery.
