Our Lockdown Garden
Dublin Core
Title
Our Lockdown Garden
Subject
Portraiture
Description
Our Lockdown Garden is a photographic monograph by documentary photographer Ruth Toda-Nation, giving an insight into the lives of our most senior citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic year. Toda-Nation presents a series of socially distanced portraits and interviews made in collaboration with octogenarians and nonagenarians — members of the silent generation — in the garden of a sheltered retirement facility, where her father is a resident.
By fusing journalistic photography, poetic reflection, and handwritten notes from the residents themselves, Toda-Nation highlights the voices of this generation, whose invisibility was amplified during the pandemic, offering a poignant and deeply personal documentation of life during an extraordinary time.
While members of the government were disregarding COVID rules and untested patients were being sent back to care homes, many of our eldest citizens were deprived of their loved ones and died alone. Inspired by the words of Junichiro Tanizaki, “were it not for the shadows, there would be no beauty,” the book endeavours to highlight the strength and stoicism of our eldest citizens, whilst being a reminder to us all that beauty can be found in the darkest of places.
“Through this work I hope to capture a feeling of nostalgia, reminiscent of the storytelling we all love and associate with our grandparents — those special stories of wisdom and resilience that we will treasure forever. I hope the work captures the mood of this historic moment and will serve as a window back in time for future generations.”
— Ruth Toda-Nation
The book includes a foreword by photographer Roy Mehta.
By fusing journalistic photography, poetic reflection, and handwritten notes from the residents themselves, Toda-Nation highlights the voices of this generation, whose invisibility was amplified during the pandemic, offering a poignant and deeply personal documentation of life during an extraordinary time.
While members of the government were disregarding COVID rules and untested patients were being sent back to care homes, many of our eldest citizens were deprived of their loved ones and died alone. Inspired by the words of Junichiro Tanizaki, “were it not for the shadows, there would be no beauty,” the book endeavours to highlight the strength and stoicism of our eldest citizens, whilst being a reminder to us all that beauty can be found in the darkest of places.
“Through this work I hope to capture a feeling of nostalgia, reminiscent of the storytelling we all love and associate with our grandparents — those special stories of wisdom and resilience that we will treasure forever. I hope the work captures the mood of this historic moment and will serve as a window back in time for future generations.”
— Ruth Toda-Nation
The book includes a foreword by photographer Roy Mehta.
Creator
Ruth Toda-Nation
Publisher
The mindful Editions
Date
2022
Format
hardback
Book Item Type Metadata
Dimensions
215 x 270
Number of Pages
94
Number of images
39
Edition Size
150
Place of Publication
London
Designer
Flora Butler/Ruth Toda-Nation
Editor
Flora Butler
Printer
Team Impression
ISBN
978-1-9196445-0-9
Website
@ruthtodanation
URL Link to project
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1yY5kBJc4RmpmQifTUDVSJK0YFrRxHmX-?usp=share_link
Where to buy
https://themindfuleditions.co.uk/our-lockdown-garden
Waterstones/ Foyles
Direct from photographer
Waterstones/ Foyles
Direct from photographer
Links to reviews
https://personalwork.online/portrait-photographer-ruth-toda-nation-photobook/
https://www.ilfordphoto.com/our-lockdown-garden/
https://www.ilfordphoto.com/our-lockdown-garden/
Collection
Citation
Ruth Toda-Nation, “Our Lockdown Garden,” Photobook Cafe Photobook Collection, accessed March 23, 2026, https://mail.photobookcafe-archive.co.uk/items/show/2036.